


A Certain Heir

by Manhattanite



Series: The Heir Series [1]
Category: Warehouse 13
Genre: F/F, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-11-12
Packaged: 2021-01-16 15:48:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 63,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21273692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Manhattanite/pseuds/Manhattanite
Summary: Originally posted on another fanfiction site. Have been asked to post it here (again).  It's the first installment of nine in The Heir Series.AU - Helena is the CEO of her own biomedical firm in the heart of Manhattan.  She's about to meet the only person who can save her from yet another disaster - Mrs. Frederic's newest hire - Myka Bering, Esquire.





	1. Ready! Fire! Aim!

Helena Wells sat in her corner office, high above the maddening noise of the traffic clogging Times Square. She enjoyed watching the crowds racing up and down the avenues and the large neon signs that flashed headlines, stock prices, and advertisements. When choosing the location for her headquarters, she didn't want the more upscale addresses on Park Avenue because they lacked pulse.

She had spent a lifetime in the quiet and now that she had been released and paid her dues to the government, she was free to go about her life in any fashion she saw fit. The money from her stories had amassed quite a sum and within a few years, Helena had invested wisely to increase that amount. So much so, that she was able to oversee the divisions of her company and concentrate on what she loved – or so she thought.

The first year, she immersed herself in the biotechnology end of Wells Corp. Within a short period of time, top team members quit. New workers were hired by the HR department, only to have them quit within a few months. Finally, the project manager put it to his boss bluntly – 'if you stay, we will never get these projects done.' He convinced her that her involvement was actually a hindrance because even the smartest team members were intimidated by her brilliance. It was a plausible explanation – she was brilliant indeed, but it wasn't her brain power that made them quit. She lacked the people skills it took to work with others.

In reality, Helena Wells did not play well with others. She simply found it impossible to be part of a team.

Helena conceded and threw herself into her personal projects. She was a one- woman force in bringing Nikola Tesla's work to an exhibit at New York's Hall of Science. It took months of fund raising and convincing people that Tesla was worthy of his own exhibition and when it was finally done, it was a huge success. It also left Helena with nothing on her calendar. For her personal staff, this usually meant trouble. This time it came in the form of a sexual harassment complaint from one of her top managers. He had accompanied her to many of the fundraisers. A tall, good looking man in his early 30's, Walter Sykes had enjoyed Helena's company. When her interest in him diminished, and it always did, he took umbrage with the fact that he had been used.

"_You were enjoyable while it lasted_," Helena admitted to him and then curtly dismissed him.

He threatened to bring her empire down from the inside, but Helena laughed him off. Now he was pressing charges of sexual harassment – a messy business indeed. It was the worst kind of complaint that the director of Human Resources, Irene Frederic - liked to handle. It was hard enough when it was between managers and a worker in the department, but when it involved the CEO – that made it the worst case possible. There'd be no keeping it out of the press.

They needed their lawyers to act swiftly, but there was only one problem. Helena had fired the entire staff of attorneys a few weeks ago.

"_The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers_," she quoted from Shakespeare, and Mrs. Frederic feared her suggestion of reading all the works of the Bard to keep her boss busy was perhaps a mistake. In reality, Helena had a very good reason for terminating them. They had strongly opposed her decision to give shares of the company to the staff. _Strongly oppose_ was not something Helena took to kindly. So out they went.

In scrambling to find someone to head up counsel, Mrs. Frederic came across a resume of a woman, who was pre-med, then pre law, then a history major. She graduated summa cum laude and went onto law school. She had gained entrance into several of the top schools, but chose to go to a less prestigious one closer to her home in Colorado. Her resume should never have gotten past the first round, but there was something about it that struck Irene. By all accounts, the resume would have been regarded as too light too handle the intensity of a well-known firm like Wells Corp, but she decided to interview the woman anyway. It wasn't until she met the candidate did she know for sure, this was the woman who could manage just fine. She had hired attorneys who had graduated at the top of their classes from the best schools and look where that had gotten her. No, this time – she hired the best candidate for the toughest part of the job – handling the CEO. Irene had hoped to give her new chief counsel more time to get her feet wet, but there was no time like the present to test her out.

"I want Jacobs to pull whatever he can on Sykes," Helena said, her boredom evident by her body language. She was slouched in her chair and was playing with the large model of Newton's Cradle on her desk. The clack of the steel balls was getting on Irene's nerves only slightly less than her boss' nonchalant attitude was. She put her hand on the last ball and stopped it. Not all energy is deserving of being released, she thought.

"Ms. Wells, you fired Jacobs a few weeks ago," Irene said almost annoyed that her boss had forgotten. If she had overlooked this – then surely she would forget the trouble Irene went through in replacing him.

"Oh so I did," Helena said. "He was a bloody fool," she said.

"Yes, a twenty year member of the New York bar, recipient of many awards, but foolish enough to tell you no," Irene said.

Helena raised her head, steely eyes locked on the head of her Human Resource Department.

"It is within my rights to fire anyone, is that not true?" the Brit asked and her question was supposed to be delivered as a pointed expression. Irene had worked long enough in the business world to know when she was being threatened. And she had worked long enough for Helena Wells to know these were idle threats. For some reason, Helena tolerated Irene even when she stepped over the boundary.

"Your new counsel will be here at two o'clock to go over what we need to do," Irene said.

"New counsel? Who the bloody hell hired new counsel?" Helena asked sternly.

"I did," Irene answered.

"And why wasn't I consulted?" Helena yelled. She liked a hand in almost every aspect of her company.

"Oh but you were," the older woman informed her.

"Irene, I do not remember being asked to interview a new lawyer or surely I would have made the time," the CEO protested.

"Remember the night after the Tesla opening? You were with Walter and left the party very late? So late in fact, that the next day when I called you at the Penthouse to remind you that we had a candidate coming in you told me to never '_bloody_' disturb you again with such nonsense?" Irene said gently refreshing her boss' memory.

Helena frowned trying to recall such a call. "Yes?" she said.

"Yes, well while you were busy giving Mr. Sykes his exit interview between the sheets, I hired a new lawyer. And not a moment too soon I'd say," Irene added.

Now Helena was frustrated. "I will not work with him if I do not like him. I won't - I tell you."

"Actually, I think you will like her. She's not like the others –rather down to earth and solid," Irene said.

"I will not work with _her_ then, if I do not like her," Helena confirmed.

"Yes of course," Irene said half listening. "Just be ready at two o'clock to hear what she has to say about all of this."

Helena didn't care for the orders Irene was handing out, but she knew better than to dismiss her.

"What is the name of the woman I will fire if I do not like her?" Helena asked.

"Myka Bering," Irene called back.

"Myka? What kind of a name is that?" Helena called out as she played with the steel balls attached to string, banging them loudly to annoy her employee.

"The kind that will help you get out of the mess you've made I hope," Mrs. Frederic said as she closed the door.


	2. New Employee Orientation

"There you go, that should do it," the young IT whiz said the Myka. "I've uploaded all the programs you've asked for."

Myka thanked the young woman who had stopped in to see her almost every day since she started a couple of weeks ago. Myka wasn't surprised that people were not entirely friendly to the new lawyer on staff, but when they did talk to her, it was almost out of sympathy. As if they were expecting her career at Wells Corp to be a rather short one.

"_Oh you hung pictures_?" her administrative assistant asked one day.

"_Is that a bad thing_?" Myka asked wondering if there was a policy against personalizing your office.

"_Oh no, no ..you know…just more to pack up …..if you ever need to of course_," she said.

* * *

Claudia Donovan was the only person who introduced herself to Myka and in the second week, offered to show her around. In the middle of her tour, the office manager, a middle aged grumpy guy with glasses ran literally into them.

"Artie?" Claudia yelled out after steadying herself.

"Claudia! Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you. Who are you?" he snapped at Myka. In spite of his rough demeanor, Myka took a liking to him right away.

"I've been showing the new _corporate lawyer_ around…," Claudia said jerking her head toward Myka.

"Myka Bering," Myka said and extended her hand.

"Too busy to care," Artie said shaking it back. "She got through your latest fire wall and all hell is being raised up there."

"Oh for God's sake, would someone _please_ find that woman something to do besides test my security systems!" Claudia yelled.

"She wants to see you now," Artie said and hesitated to say something to Myka. He knew his first impression was not a smooth one. "Lives are at stake here," was all he said, as if that should explain it to the new employee.

"I gotta go. She gets really cranky if she thinks we can't secure the databases here," Claudia said.

"Who is _she _and why is _she_ hacking into Wells Corp's systems?" Myka asked thinking this had to be a breach of some ethical standard.

"_She_ is Helena Wells, your boss, my boss and sometimes she thinks the world's boss. And she's doing it quite frankly because she's bored. Don't tell her I told you that," Claudia smiled.

"Now - Claudia!" Artie yelled .

* * *

People's heads shot down as Myka looked around. She returned to her office and spent the rest of the morning familiarizing herself with the company and its CEO. What she didn't find in a file or report, she could easily find on the society pages of the local NY papers. Day after day, there were photos of her new boss out on the town with a different man each time.

"Quite the socialite," Myka said to herself only to look up from the paper and see the Director of HR standing at her desk. Startled, Myka jumped back in her seat.

"Mrs. Frederic!" Myka said, trying to shake the nervous tone to her voice.

"I'm afraid your services are going to be needed sooner than I had hoped," the woman said without apologizing for the intrusion. It was just something she did – and if she didn't apologize to Helena Wells for doing it, she wasn't going to apologize to anyone.

"Oh okay, sure. What do we have?" Myka asked ready to tackle her first assignment.

"It's a delicate matter, Ms. Bering. One that will require your utmost discretion," the older woman said sitting in the chair.

"Of course," Myka assured her.

"It seems that the latest …business liaison between our CEO and a certain employee has ended rather poorly. He's alleging that there were some promises made in exchange for … some time spent together," Mrs. Frederic said and it was the first time Myka heard the woman hesitate in her speech.

"Have you spoken to this individual? I mean, is this a simple case of extortion?" Myka asked as she reached for her legal pad to take notes.

"Ms. Bering, nothing is simple when it comes to the CEO of this company, but you'll learn that on your own. I feel it's my duty to tell you this is not the first time this type of thing has happened," the HR Director shared.

"Well, I'm not surprised. A rich, powerful, wealthy head of a corporation is often the target of malicious attacks for the sake of hoping to extract money," Myka said already planning what her strategy would be.

"I'd like to speak to both parties of course to get both sides. I'm assuming HR has spoken to the accuser?" Myka said waiting for the response.

"Indeed we have, Ms. Bering." Mrs. Frederic said. Something in her tone made Myka stop and look up.

"And?" the new lawyer prompted.

"We have a problem," Irene said and pursed her lip. "A _big_ problem."


	3. Who's Next?

Myka sat at her desk unable to eat the turkey sandwich her assistant insisted on bringing her. She had caught only a glimpse of the look on Mrs. Frederic's face, but it was enough to know this could be Myka's last meal.

Myka's cell rang and she smiled as soon as she saw the number. Now no one could settle Myka's nerves like Sam Martino.

"Sam?" she asked excited to hear his voice.

"Yes Bunny," he said back and his voice was soothing.

"Oh I needed to hear your voice," Myka said regaining her confidence.

"They haven't fed you to the lions yet?" he teased her.

Oh how she loved his joshing. Sam knew Myka better than anyone – but in Myka's case – that wasn't saying much. Myka kept things inside – rarely allowing even the closest people to see her real feelings. This is why they always thought they knew her better than herself when they didn't.

Sam always thought fighting court cases was too tough for Myka, and that she would have been better suited as a literature teacher. '_But you love books_,' he said to her when she was applying for this job. "_Sam, I went to law school_," she reminded him.

She didn't admit it, but she resented his patronizing her when she talked about being a lawyer. Her pro bono work was the most he could ever see her doing.

It was on a whim that she applied to this job in New York City, and no one was more surprised than Sam – except Myka. She had never done anything this spontaneous before in her life and oddly enough, it felt good. When she got the call that she got the job, she packed her bag, said goodbye to her parents and convinced Sam they'd be closer now that she was nearer DC. In the two weeks she had been there, she hadn't asked Sam to visit. Sam thought she was just being Myka – thoughtful of how busy _his_ job was – but in truth, it was she who was too busy getting settled and learning her way around the City. At that moment though, with the upcoming meeting – she thought it was good to hear from him.

"Settled in?" he asked expecting nothing less.

"Yes," she assured him.

"Good, because I'm coming to see you tonight," he announced.

"Really?" Myka said her attention distracted by the file opened on her desk.

"You don't sound happy," Sam said noting the tone of her voice.

"No. Sorry - what?" she asked.

Myka was busy reading the report on her boss. Now she understood why Mrs. Frederic sounded the way she did. This wasn't the first time someone had accused the CEO of sexual harassment. In fact, if this had been a bakery, Walter Sykes would have been fifth in line.

"Oh my God," Myka let out when she saw at amount of money it took to make the other four gentlemen to release their claims. It was more money than most people made in a lifetime.

"Bunny, are you listening?" Sam asked. _What could possibly have her attention when he was on the phone?_

"Sam, I have to go. I'll call you later," Myka said as she slowed put her phone down.

Mrs. Frederic's notes were all over these files. _So why wasn't this one going as quietly as the other four_? _Was he asking for too much money_? In the other four cases, Ms. Wells denied all the allegations. She threatened to ruin their careers if they didn't drop their charges, but in the end, that action cost the firm a hefty price tag. The CEO's recommendation in each case was – according to Irene's notes – '_make it go away._' And that is what Irene had done in each of the cases with the help of the chief lawyer.

* * *

Myka went to Mrs. Frederic's office. It was after one o'clock and she had less than an hour to prepare her strategy for this issue.

"Mrs. Frederic, you never mentioned that there were four others. Why is number 5 so different? I'm not endorsing an automatic payoff, but it would seem to me this has been the corporate policy," Myka said laying the file on the woman's desk.

Irene looked at the file and then back up at Myka. "He says he has… proof," she said in a low voice.

"Proof? What he had his IPhone on?" Myka said laughing.

Her expression changed when she saw the look on Irene's face. "Mrs. Frederic, everyone has pictures or a video they would rather the world not know about," Myka said and then caught the sound of her own words. "I didn't mean _everyone_. I meant a lot of ….._some_ people."

"Ms. Bering, I will take your word for that, but the video that Mr. Sykes is referring to might contain some – how shall I say this? – inappropriate actions ….." the HR Director started to explain.

"I don't see how we can deem anything inappropriate between two consenting adults…," Myka blurted out still interjecting more than she should have.

"Ms. Bering, Wells Corp is a very diverse corporation. Our divisions run from biomedical engineering to overseeing the use of the works of HG Wells. Our CEO is the face of this company and our concern is that all the philanthropic work she does will be marred if the public gets hold of a video that contains images of a delicate nature," Irene explained.

Myka looked at the woman. She was pretty sure if you cut her, Irene would bleed Wells Corp. There was a very protective nature about the woman.

"Well, do we know for a fact that the video even exists?" Myka asked. "And if it exists, how do we know what's on it?"

"This is exactly what your two o'clock meeting is about," Irene said almost smiling.

"On the other hand, we can't just keep paying these people off, Irene. They'll be coming out of the woodwork if we do that," Myka pointed out.

"It's the ones coming out of her bedroom that I am worried about," Irene replied. "Now wait while I get Pete Lattimer to escort you up to her office."

"Who is Pete Lattimer?" Myka asked, wondering why someone had to take her to the executive's office.

"He's Helena's body-guard," Irene informed her.

"Do you think we're sending the right message if Chief Counsel arrives with Ms. Wells body guard? I mean, it's like telling her she better have protection when I arrive," Myka said thinking it was a little over the top.

"Oh he's not there for Helena's protection," Irene said - telling someone to get Pete there immediately.

Within minutes, a well-built thirtyish man with boyish looks arrived at her door. "You need me, Mrs. F?" Pete said.

"Pete, this is Myka Bering, new Chief Counsel for the firm," Irene introduced them. "She has a meeting with Ms. Wells now about the Sykes complaint."

"Oh…..got it," Pete said. "Well welcome Ms. Bering… Mica?"

"Myka," Myka said pronouncing her name.

"Meca?" Pete tried again.

"Myka," Myka said patiently.

"OK got it. Ms. Bering, if you will follow me," Pete said showing her to the elevator.

"Good luck, Ms. Bering," Irene called after her and Myka was certain she heard the woman say '_you'll need it_, under her breath.

Pete made small talk as they ascended in the elevator to the top floor.

"I expected Ms. Wells to have her office on the floors with the other departments," Myka said out loud.

"You mean in the middle of things like that kid Zuckerberg?" Pete laughed.

"Well, yeah," Myka said as they walked.

"Yeah….no! Ms. Wells ….makes other people nervous," Pete said thinking that was a polite way to put it.

"You mean people find her intimidating?" Myka asked and it gave Pete pause to think of the best way to put this.

"You know when people say '_oh she's got a tough exterior, but underneath she's just a teddy _bear?" he asked. "Well, she's a polar bear on the outside and inside there's a family of hedgehogs waiting to greet you."

"A family of hedgehogs?" Myka asked, scrunching her brow at the image.

"You know …. You see a polar bear and you're all '_yikes - it's a polar bear_, but then you get past the bear and you're like 'whew' that was close, but then you run into hedgehogs…," Pete said trying to explain his analogy.

"A family of them?" Myka clarified.

"Yeah especially if the tea isn't made the right way," Pete said from experience.

"And you're her body-guard?" Myka asked incredulously.

"Oh yeah – it's easier to protect her from others than to protect them from her," Pete said in a low voice.

* * *


	4. Grin and Bear It

Pete walked Myka to the outside office and tipped his imaginary hat. "Go get 'em," he said and then asked; "You're already on the medical plan right?"

Myka laughed thinking everyone was making such a fuss to be funny – except she was the only one laughing. Surely they weren't all so afraid of the woman in charge? Claudia seemed to have a pretty good perspective on things, Myka thought. That's when the door opened up and the young IT whiz came out – crying. Not a lot – but it was obvious to Myka that she was misty eyed.

"Claudia, are you ok?" Myka asked.

"Yeah thanks, tough …uhm meeting," the youth replied.

Myka looked past her at the door that now separated her from the CEO. Suddenly, there was bellowing and Claudia ran down the hall.

"Is it so bloody impossible for everyone to do their jobs around here? I mean, is that too much to ask? Have a secure firewall? Have a deadline met? Here's a novel idea – how about we accomplish a goal for bloody sake!" Helena yelled into the vast waiting room.

_This_ was Helena Wells? Surely, this was a crazy woman in Helena Wells' office, Myka hoped. The look on the secretary's face told her she was wrong.

"Get Mr. Nielsen on the phone," she barked and walked back into her office, slamming the door without noticing Myka.

Myka had walked over to introduce herself, but the door closed in her face. _OK, that was just rude,_ Myka thought. She looked at the woman at the desk to see if she wanted announce her, but she was busy trying to find the office manager. Myka turned back raising her hand to knock - just as Helena swung opened the door to yell about Artie not being there yet.

"Perhaps we could invent a transporter so people could be where they are supposed to be - on time?" Helena yelled and then stopped when she came face to face with the stranger.

"Well I'm here on time," Myka said in her friendliest voice. It was two o'clock on the dot. Myka didn't do _late._

Helena stopped and glared - black eyes that didn't seem to move holding Myka in her stare.

"Who the bloody hell are you?" Helena asked out of frustration.

In spite of the stern look, Myka was taken with just how beautiful the woman – whose picture she had seen many times in the papers or on the internet – was. Straight thick black hair that flowed down over her shoulders and swayed with the slightest movement. There wasn't a split end on her head. Ivory flawless skin underneath it – she looked like one of the models you saw in magazines.

"I am …I am …we have a two …," Myka started to say even though _I am Myka Bering_ was in her head.

The slightest curl of the lip appeared on Helena's face and for a minute Myka thought she was going to say '_oh so sorry, of course, please do come in_.'

Instead Myka heard – "I don't' know who you are or why you are standing in my way, but I would recommend that you go back to your desk and rehearse what it is you think you want to say to me."

Myka wasn't only shocked at the works – she was stunned that the door was back in her face. Now she was pissed.

"OK wait a minute," Myka said trying to regain her composure, but this time there were four people coming up behind her swiftly and she was jostled by the group who hustled past her and into the main office. She recognized one of them as Artie Nielsen who apparently believed there was protection in numbers. There wasn't.

As Myka straightened her white blouse and pulled on her dark navy jacket, she approached the personal assistant.

"If you will be so kind as to tell Ms. Wells that her two o'clock appointment is here," Myka said in her calmest voice.

"And you are?" the young woman asked.

"I am Myka Bering, Chief Counsel. I have a two o'clock appointment…..," Myka said patiently.

"Ms. Wells isn't in," the woman said with a straight face.

"Excuse me?" Myka said – thinking maybe she didn't hear her correctly.

"Ms. Wells is not in," came the reply – a pause between each word.

"How can you say that? I practically ran into her as she stood there shouting," Myka said back.

The woman stared at Myka, as if waiting for another answer to be selected in her brain. She glanced away at her computer screen. "I'm sorry; did you say your name was _Myka Bering_?"

"Yes," Myka said, relieved to clear that up.

"Chief Counsel?" came the next inquiry.

"Yes, Myka Bering - Chief Counsel," Myka said, pushing a curl behind her ear. Her hair was pulled back in a bun, but this one curly strand would just not stay.

The woman glanced back at her screen. "Ms. Wells is sorry, but she'll have to reschedule."

"Oh? OK, well what time does Ms. Wells want to reschedule it for?" Myka said, taking out her phone to make sure she put it in there.

Just then the door to the office opened again and out stepped Artie and his three fellow workers who apparently offered him no defense whatsoever. He patted the shoulder of one young man who took being dismantled the hardest. "It gets easier," he lied to him.

Myka frowned and stared at the scene before her. She took a deep breath. She had prepared for this moment – she knew herself well enough to know that she had to be confident and steady her voice, even when she didn't feel so assured.

"Could you please ask Ms. Wells when she would like me to return," she instructed the woman behind the desk.

"Oh," Artie said, stopping to deliver the message. "Ms. Wells said …..and I quote …_when hell freezes over." _

Myka was stunned. "Excuse me?" she said to Artie who wanted nothing more than to get away from that place.

"She said to tell you that," Artie said, throwing his hands up in the air and leaving.

The administrative assistant shrugged her shoulders as if there was nothing more to discuss.

A part of Myka – maybe the part that always took the polite way out of things – or who deferred to authority quickly – or the part that placated Sam when he droned on and on about what life would be like for them if they got married – exploded inside and took hold.

She knocked on the door and pushed it opened without waiting.

"You might want to get your coat Ms. Wells," Myka said as she walked through the doorway. "The temperature is about to drop."

"Excuse me?" came the British accent from the other end of the office.

Suddenly, Myka's knees felt a little weak. Is this how she was introducing herself to her boss? Myka took a couple of steps inside.

"I am Myka Bering, your new Chief Counsel and we have a two o'clock appointment," Myka said clearly even though her throat felt like it was closing.

Upon seeing Myka take things into her own hands, the young assistant flew from her seat and now stood in the doorway. She had allowed someone to pass without warning her boss.

"I am so sorry, Ms. Wells, I tried to stop her ….," the woman said and Myka felt sorry for her. It was obvious the woman was truly scared.

Helena glared from behind her desk. This was an unusual situation for her. Not the cowering worker – she saw that every day. No, it was the woman who had barged into her office even though she was told not to. Helena stared Myka up and down. She noticed the body language – she was holding herself stiffly as if digging in her heals. This was a change of pace indeed and one that Helena thought she just might make time to enjoy.

"It's okay Eileen, apparently my new Chief Counsel is anxious to see me," Helena said standing and walking to the front of the desk. She leaned back and sat on the edge and crossed her arms.

"You can go Eileen," Helena said to the woman still frozen in the doorway. "And what can I do for you? Mi-ca is it," Helena said on purpose.

"My-ka," Myka said and approached the woman. "Myka Bering," she said extending her hand to her new boss. Helena took it – not so much as a shake but held onto it.

"Oh good, you're not wearing your law school ring. So often I find that Americans from the Ivy's and top law schools insist on wearing gaudy school rings as if this is supposed to tell me something," Helena said in a calm, low voice.

"No, no ring," Myka said slightly uncomfortable that the woman was still holding her hand.

"Good. I imagine you think your résumé will speak for itself then?" Helena said letting go and taking her seat behind the desk.

"Well … yes I do," Myka said taken aback by the sudden change in demeanor.

"Too bad for you then that I haven't seen your resume," Helena said and she still hadn't indicated that Myka should sit down.

"Ms. Wells if you need to reschedule, I can …," Myka was saying trying the diplomatic approach. She didn't want to seem unreasonable. Myka Bering never wanted to seem unreasonable which is why she and Sam usually wound up doing things that Sam liked to do.

The phone rang and Helena put her index finger up to halt her intruder.

"Put him on," she said to her assistant. She looked up at Myka and pointed to the chair to sit down. Myka did.

"Jack darling, it is good to hear from you. What did you decided to do?" Helena said in a friendly lilting voice. So she could be friendly.

Myka watched as her boss listened and played with the phone cord. "Jack, I think I made it perfectly clear on Monday when we spoke. You can do your show using the character, but I insist on seeing the scripts before, and she must be portrayed as a _woman_, Jack," Helena said.

Myka opened her portfolio in her lap to appear as if she wasn't eavesdropping – which she was.

"Jack, I am not a patient woman. I do not have time for this banter. Let me …how do you say it ….bottom…..?" Helena struggled with the idiom and looked at Myka.

"_Bottom line_ it?" Myka answered saying the first thing that came into her head.

Helena smiled. "Let me _bottom line_ this for you dear. _HG Wells_ is played as a woman or I rescind the rights to do the show. If you can't make that story line work, then you're not creative enough to handle the stories," Helena said and listened to the man quiver on the other end of the phone.

"You have till five o'clock Jack. Call my Chief Counsel and let her know your decision. And Jack? Do not call me back. I have wasted enough time on our questions," Helena said and put the phone back down.

"The producer of a show they want to do about HG Wells," Helena said smiling.

"HG Wells is a woman?" Myka asked with a big grin on her face. "I'm gonna have to process that."

"Well process away, Ms. Bering," Helena quipped and yet she was interested in the fact that Myka seemed to have such a strong reaction to hearing that bit of news.

"I love HG Wells. My father used to read me War of the Worlds at night before I would go to sleep," Myka shared.

Helena didn't say anything. She just took in the pleasant expression on Myka's face.

"And can you see the character of HG Wells portrayed as a woman?" she asked. Myka had no idea that her answer would determine whether or not she was fired. Fortunately for Myka, she picked the answer Helena wanted to hear.

"Actually, I can. I totally can. I think HG Wells was a brilliant writer and I always thought there was collaboration perhaps with his sister. I mean – I read research papers that suggested that. Well, I'm not telling _you_ anything you don't know," Myka said laughing nervously that she had said more than she needed to.

"Not yet, Myka Bering. Not yet," Helena said her lips curled just the littlest bit as she lowered her head and locked eyes with Myka. "Now what can I do _for you_?" she asked leaning over the desk towards Myka.

The new employee smiled cautiously aware of what was going on.

Myka knew she was being welcomed by the polar bear... to meet the hedgehogs.


	5. What's a Nice Person Like You Doing in a Place Like This?

Myka realized the shift to calm in her boss and responded accordingly. She opened the leather binder on her lap again and took out the complaint by the disgruntled employee.

"I noticed that Mr. Sykes was not the first person to bring these charges and yet, the others seemed to have accepted a settlement and gone their way. Mrs. Frederic tells me Mr. Sykes alleges he has evidence. A recording perhaps?" Myka asked gently.

These were tough questions Myka thought, but it was her job to ask them.

"Does he now?" Helena asked and Myka was surprised she did not confirm nor deny it.

"I thought Mrs. Frederic would have shared her findings with you," Myka said.

"What kind of recording?" Helena asked.

"Oh, well let me see," Myka said looking through her papers. "I'm not sure Mrs. Frederic said, but can we _assume_ it was perhaps a video he made of you while….?" Myka asked and then looked up.

She had expected her boss to find these questions uncomfortable, but instead there was a smug look on her face.

"I intend to speak to Mr. Sykes myself – today if I can – to ascertain what evidence he has and what he wants," Myka said clearly.

"Ah but he cannot have what he wants," Helena said.

"Oh? What does he want? Is he looking for a position on the Board? More money? I mean, Ms. Wells, however you look at this, it's extortion. Whether or not he has evidence of any _impropriety_ on your part….," Myka said and Helena took offense at her wording.

"Ms. Bering, he cannot have what he wants because he wants me. He wants a relationship based on the passion he thought we shared one night when I had one too many wines at a charity benefit. We had a few hours of lust and craving, but only one of us left satisfied in the morning. And now he wants something I rarely give anyone," Helena said looking directly at Myka.

"A good reference?" Myka blurted out.

"A second chance," Helena retorted without smiling. "So think of this as _your_ chance, Myka to impress me. Speak to Walter, find out what he wants in terms of compensation, procure the evidence if you think it's necessary and then – _make-this-go-away_!" Helena said slowly.

Reading those words in the file did not prepare Myka for hearing them uttered by her boss. She was being summarily dismissed and she knew it. She sat there for a few seconds as Helena returned to her computer screen and typed furiously on the keyboard.

"Ha! Bravo Ms. Donovan, now that's a firewall," Helena said to the screen.

Myka gathered her papers and hesitated for a moment. Should she point out that it sounded as if that was Claudia's second chance? She shook her head no deciding against it.

"Ms. Bering?" Helena called to her as she neared the door.

"Yes?" Myka said hoping she would discuss something else about this case.

"When you _assume _anything, you make an ass out of you," Helena said, changing the idiom to suit her. She was referring to Myka's statement about the evidence.

Myka bit her lip. She had used that word and she knew it. "I'll get the facts," Myka assured her boss.

"Good, now you can present them to me at dinner tonight. Eight o'clock at Daniel's," Helena said making a note on her phone.

"Tonight?" Myka said.

"Is there a problem?" Helena asked and her tone was definitely '_there better not be'_.

"Sam is …my boyfriend is ….coming in tonight. He hasn't seen my place and he called to say he was free…" Myka said cringing inside at how awful that sounded.

"Then do bring Mr. Sam along," Helena said already spending too much time on this.

"Bring Sam? But I can't discuss a company case with sensitive information in front of a _stranger_," Myka said, and suddenly Helena became very interested in Myka's choice of words.

"I'll tell you what Myka Bering. You bring him, we'll have dinner and then you and I can go powder our noses in the ladies room where you can regale me with how you solved this issue," Helena said smiling.

She had thrown Myka a curve ball and Myka was caught between playing along and getting hit square between the eyes. She smiled uncomfortably and left the office, muttering to herself about what had transpired. She smiled at Eileen as she passed her desk. The woman didn't say anything, but handed her a card with the address of the restaurant on it.

"How?" Myka asked, looking back at the office and at Eileen who was already busy with something else.

* * *

Myka asked her assistant to set up a meeting with the accuser. He agreed to see Myka at his apartment at five. That would give her enough time to meet him, get him to sign some release documents, get the video, go home and change and get to the restaurant. As Myka went through the list, the one thing she forgot was Sam. And before all of that she had to meet with Mrs. Frederic.

Helena waited until her new employee closed the door and then she smiled broadly. She wasn't sure yet what it was about her that she liked. She was impressed with the way she pushed her way it and didn't take no for an answer. She felt intrigued by Myka, but wasn't sure why. In all the time Helena was working with people, she could count on one hand the people she felt close to - and even they were afraid of her. Except for Mrs. Frederic. For some reason that woman had no fear in her entire body.

* * *

"Do you think there's any chance Mr. Sykes will accept a cash settlement? Are we prepared to offer that?" Myka asked Irene after she left Helen's office.

"Whatever it takes …within reason," Mrs. Frederic answered.

"There is no _reason_ with extortion," Myka pointed out. "You know, I got the impression Ms. Wells is not really concerned about the ramifications of this."

"Ms. Wells believes this is an occupational hazard," the HR Director pointed out.

"But how do we protect her and the company and all the good work she's done?" Myka asked.

"Protect her?" the older woman asked giving that simple question deep thought. In all the meetings the woman had ever been in, this was the first time anyone asked how to actually help Helena. Usually, they were trying to save their jobs.

"You see this as a bigger problem don't you?" Irene asked relieved someone else did.

"Yes, I do. If we don't remedy this at the highest level, we'll be including _release from sexual harassment _claim forms in the New Employee kits," Myka said.

"What are you proposing?" the HR Director asked.

"I'd like to review our policies on office dating, and anything else you think might apply," Myka said.

"Oh I think you will find our policies are robust and in order," Irene said confidently.

"So you don't have this problem….," Myka started and Irene finished …"…..anywhere else."

"I have a meeting with Sykes at five and then I have to report to Ms. Wells at eight …over dinner," Myka said.

"She wants you to go to dinner?" Irene asked.

"Yes, is that a bad thing?" Myka worried. _Is that where the family of hedgehogs attacks_, she wondered?

"Only if you don't like the food," Irene said, trying to play it down. "I'll let Mr. Lattimer know."

"Does he go everywhere with her?" Myka asked out of curiosity, but Irene didn't answer. She told Myka she looked forward to hearing how her meetings went and left.

* * *

Her cell phone rang and then is when she realized the wrinkle in her plan for that night. It was Sam.

"Hi Sam," Myka said into the phone, but she was thinking did you have to call now.

"How's my girl?" he asked and Myka scrunched up her face at the sound of it. "Sam, I sound five when you say that."

"Oh I'm sorry, I thought you liked my terms of endearment," Sam said defensively.

"Sorry Sam, I'm just distracted. Oh listen; we're invited to dinner with my boss tonight. I tried to get out of it, but she was pretty insistent," Myka said.

"Oh Myka, we haven't been together in so long. I was really hoping we could just grab some Chinese food and stay in tonight," Sam said.

_Chinese food? Stay in_? This is what Sam liked to eat and liked to do. "Yes, well not tonight," Myka said assertively. "I have to go to dinner with my boss. Now if you can't make it…," Myka hoped.

"No, I can make it. I'd like to meet the woman lucky enough to have you working for her," Sam said. "I'm landing at seven."

"OK I'll text you the information, you can meet us there," Myka said.

All of a sudden her day was getting very hectic. She read through all the HR material and Irene was right when she said everything was in order. They had all the right policies in place for issues dealing with office dating. She was about to leave for the appointment with Sykes when Pete came into her office.

"So Mic…Myka…Mrs. F tells me you're going to dinner with Ms. Wells tonight right?" he said and it was evident he was nervous by the way he kept picking at an invisible piece of dusk on Myka's desk.

"Yes, well Ms. Wells insisted," Myka said pleasantly.

"Where exactly are you going?" Pete asked because the answer made a big difference in what he shared next. '_Please say Francesca's, please say Francesca's_,' he repeated over and over again in his head.

"Let me see, " Myka said looking at the card. "Daniels?"

"Oh man," Pete said hitting his fist in his other hand.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Lattimer?" Myka asked noting his discomfort.

Pete liked Myka the minute he met her. She seemed like one of those wholesome Midwest girls who had a big heart. The fact that she was dead drop gorgeous didn't hurt either. She was friendly and sweet. Now he felt like he wanted to help her, but didn't want to get his ass kicked from one end of the City to the other. He had information that could really help her, but worried about what price he would pay. He didn't know Myka well enough to know if she would even appreciate this inside tip or not. He paced around the room, the turmoil evident on his face. Myka looked at her watch. She had to leave to meet the complainant.

"Mr. Lattimer, I really have to go…," Myka said apologetically.

"I go with Ms. Wells a lot when she goes out to dinner. You know the paparazzi, the crowds sometimes, people want to talk to her…..," Pete tried to get his bearings.

"Oh well I'm glad you will be there then," Myka said as she started to walk toward the door.

"That's where she takes people when she's going to fire them!" Pete blurted out when he realized he had no time left.

Myka stopped in her tracks and looked at Pete. "She asked me to go to dinner so she could fire me?" she asked incredulously.

"I think so," Pete said slowly.


	6. Dress for Success

Myka felt as if someone had punched her in the stomach. Had she been duped all this time? Helena Wells was being nice just so she could set her up? Sam's words came back to her; "_Bunny, I don't know why you want to go to New York. They'll eat you up and spit you out." _

"I'm sorry Ms. Bering, it's just that you seem so nice and all ….," Pete said feeling awful that she was taking it so hard. The phrase made Myka think. '_Nice and all'_ is what Myka had been her whole life.

"It's okay, Pete. I appreciate you telling me. At least now I'll be prepared," Myka said, forcing a smile on her face. She took a deep breath and stood up straight and started to leave.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Well if Ms. Wells is going to fire me, it won't be because I didn't do my job," Myka said and set out for her appointment.

* * *

Myka hailed a cab correctly - having learned that the embarrassing telltale sign of out-of-towners is waving your hand at one with the numbers lit up. A native would know that means they are already occupied. She gave him the address on the Upper East Side and sat back while he weaved in and out of traffic. Sadness came over her that this might be the one time she lived or worked in the greatest City in the world. She didn't want to admit it, but maybe Sam had been right. Maybe she was too naive for this line of work, and this job, and this City. Maybe you can't take the girl out of Colorado either.

'_Dammit Myka, stop feeling sorry for yourself_,' her inner voice said loudly. '_No one knows you better than yourself_.'

Right then and there she decided she wasn't going down without a fight.

* * *

Myka told the doorman who she was and he announced her to Walter Sykes. Maybe he wanted money to keep up this lifestyle, Myka thought. Her apartment in the Village was very small, and though she could afford the rent easily, she took it because she had no way of knowing how long her job would last. She had expected more than two weeks. Myka had signed a contract with Wells Corp which guaranteed her salary for a year – so even if Helena fired her, she'd have money for another fifty weeks. Money she didn't work for or earn, and so that was little consolation to Myka.

Myka took the elevator up to the 17th floor and knocked on the door at 4:59. She wasn't sure what she was expecting Walter Sykes to look like, but when the man appeared in the doorway, she thought she had the wrong apartment. "Mr. Sykes?" she asked trying to hide the surprised in her voice. Walter was a man in his twenties. He appeared in khakis and a pastel button down shirt and his hair was long. He looked like he stepped out of GQ magazine, Myka thought. She was not expecting his warm welcome and she was suspicious as soon as she shook his hand. He showed her to the living room and asked if she wanted anything.

Just as Myka sat down, her phone vibrated and she pushed her hand in her bag to shut it off. Sam would have to wait.

"Thank you for you seeing me, Mr. Sykes," Myka said as she took out her papers.

"My pleasure," he said and Myka wondered how he could think anything positively about this.

Myka took out her portfolio that contained his complaint and the pen that Claudia gave her as a welcoming gift engraved with Wells Corp logo – _Where the Future is Already Happening. _

"I've read your complaint, Mr. Sykes. My purpose here today is to ascertain what, if any, evidence you have and to inform you that although we are prepared to hear what you have to say, we are not ready to offer you anything," Myka said folding her hands in her lap.

"I have evidence, Ms. Bering. I have something that could embarrass Helena …," Walter said and Myka wondered if that was possible.

"What exactly do you think was promised you, Mr. Sykes? Did Ms. Wells coerce you into any compromising situations? Did she use her position as CEO to force you into anything? Did she threaten you, promise you something in return?" Myka asked him.

She watched as the man shoved his hands into his pockets and turned away. "Mr. Sykes, any affirmative answers to those questions would constitute sexual harassment. A negative response would prove what I suspect and that is, your claim is baseless. I believe HR is prepared to offer you a severance package in exchange for your resignation," Myka said calmly.

"I don't want to resign! I am not going to leave Wells Corp with my tail between my legs, Ms. Bering. I have done nothing wrong!" Walter yelled.

"Actually Mr. Sykes, accusing the CEO of misconduct is very wrong….unless of course you have proof other than your broken heart," Myka said.

She wasn't even sure where those words came from, and she knew they sounded harsh. She got the reaction she was looking for.

"Here's your proof," he said and he handed Myka his IPhone with a video on it. Now Myka wished she had accepted his offer of water because her mouth started to feel dry. She watched as he turned away, more distraught than angry.

Myka pressed the play button because she had to know whether or not there was impropriety that could harm the company. The video started and it was evident to Myka that he had placed the phone at the head of the bed. The image was dark, but she could see Mr. Sykes lying prone in the bed. Suddenly, the image of her boss came into view as she worked her way up his body slowly. Her long black hair hung over her shoulders obstructing much of her body. "_You've been a very naughty boy_," Myka heard in the familiar British accent …and promptly dropped the phone. Sykes had been standing over by the window and had no idea where in the video Myka was.

"Could I get that water?" Myka said and resumed the video when he left.

She could feel the flush in her face as she tried to convince herself this voyeurism was necessary. For the next 187 seconds, Myka watched – albeit not always directly at the screen – and heard her boss bring Walter to a level of sexual pleasure she was certain they made up in the movies. _How does a person even know how to do that? -_Myka wondered in her head. Sam wasn't Myka's first – but pretty close to it and certainly her longest relationship. Her sister, Tracy was always the one the boys called for and when her parents met Sam; there was a collective sigh of relief. '_You can't wait forever for the right person, Myka. Sometimes you have to make a move,_' was her mother's advice. That was Jeanne Bering's way of saying she thought Sam was the best she would ever get. It hurt like hell, but Myka knew she meant well.

The video concluded with her boss encouraging Walter to reach a sexual peak he apparently had never reached before from his screams. The thought that entered Myka's head was why he wasn't embarrassed. She took a long sip of water before speaking.

"Mr. Sykes, thank ….you for showing me that. However, it appears that Ms. Wells has offered no compensation of any kind for this …tryst….and in fact, you appear to be a very willing participant," Myka said.

Helena had uttered most of what she said in French, but Myka understood every word of it including the phrase "_That you are satisfied and I am not should not come as a surprise to me_." Helena was blunt in all languages.

"She spoke French to me! I mean, I didn't understand it, but it was French –the language of love, " the man declared as if that held special significance.

"Yes, I know, but even in French she did not offer you anything and again, you seem like a very willing participant," Myka pressed.

"I was," Walter said sadly.

"Mr. Sykes, as the Chief Counsel for Wells Corp it is my job to decide if there is merit to any claim made against the company or its executives. I have found nothing here today that proves to me that your claim bears any merit," Myka said.

"I just want a _second_ _chance_," the man said almost pleading and the phrase sounded eerily familiar to Myka.

"Mr. Sykes, this is a personal issue and I don't believe Ms. Wells is open to discussing it, so my suggestion is that you withdraw your complaint, accept the severance package, and resign so that you can move on," Myka said but was interrupted.

"Move on? How can I move on? I wanted to marry her! I wanted to spend endless nights in those arms. She's bright, she's gorgeous. I can't move on," Walter declared.

Suddenly Myka felt caught between feeling uncomfortable with all of this and feeling sorry for the heartbroken guy.

"Tell her I still love her. Tell her I will destroy the tape if she'll just listen to me," he pleaded.

"Mr. Sykes, do you really want to put this very personal moment out there for just anyone to see?" Myka asked, still feeling uneasiness over seeing it.

"I want her to understand. She won't take my calls. She has to understand," Walter said.

'_Yeah, that's not going to happen_,' is what Myka heard in her head. "Mr. Sykes, I am here as legal counsel. I can only advise you of what your rights are legally and you, sir have no legal claim against Ms. Wells. Therefore, I suggest you look over this release form and consult with your lawyer. You can call Wells Corp tomorrow with your decision," Myka said and got up to leave. Walter took the papers and nodded his head but didn't say a word. He walked Myka to the door and thanked her for coming.

* * *

Myka stood on the other side of the door and shuddered. She walked to the elevator. It was 5:45 PM and she had more than enough time to get ready for her exit interview dinner. She took out her phone and was about to call Sam back when she realized the call had not been from him. She had missed the producer's call about the TV show. Helena had told him to call them back by 5 and so he had. She frantically tried to call him back, but was told he had left for the day.

_Well at least now she'll have some actual reason to fire me_, Myka thought.

She took a cab to her apartment and took a long, hot shower. In spite of her uneasiness in watching that video, here in the seclusion of her own home, she found herself thinking about it again. As much as she didn't want to bear witness to the private love-making, she found her eyes drawn to Helena in the video. She oozed sensuality and confidence in an area Myka always felt she was lacking. Not that Sam opening complained, but rather suggested she read more about it. He would never be accused of being subtle.

Myka spent an unusual amount of time looking through her dresses for the right one. She wanted to look smart, but not boring. It was technically a business dinner, but she refused to wear any one of her drab dark suits. Instead, she chose a black dress that was cut strait across in the front with short sleeves. Even Myka was surprised at how well it showed off her figure when she looked in the mirror. She wore high heels – something Sam detested because she was taller than him when she wore them. She reached down for perfume and hesitated - she had to decide between his favorite or the one he complained was too strong. She chose that one and rubbed it on her wrists and neck. If she was being invited to dinner only to be fired, she was going to go out looking her best.

That's when Myka realized that not only was she not dressing for Sam - she was dressing for Helena.


	7. On the Menu

Sam's plane landed on time. He was happy to be seeing Myka, less happy to spend dinner with her boss. On the bright side he thought, this might give Myka the push she needed. He felt confident that he could only help impress her boss and that would be a good reflection on Myka. In spite of wanting her to do well, Sam was still surprised at how irrational Myka's decision had been. A part of him hoped the experience in the Big Apple would prove to Myka she bit off a little more than she was comfortable chewing. He texted her as he got in a cab. "_See you at the restaurant. Can't wait to see you." _

Myka smiled at the text. _Why was she feeling mad at him_? she wondered.

* * *

She grabbed her phone and pocketbook and went downstairs to get a cab. Sitting in traffic, she suddenly felt as if she was back in high school all dressed up for the dance her mother had insisted she go to. Mrs. Bering begged Tracy to set her older sister up with one of the many guys she knew. Tracy balked at first, not wanting any part of it, but finally relented. She got one of her friends in Myka's year to agree. How humiliating it was to have a boy you noticed in class every day agree to take you to the dance because he was friends with your younger sibling. He picked Myka up and asked why he never saw her at school before.

It was obvious to Myka from the start this was a big mistake – and she knew she was walking into disaster as soon as she got in his car. And she was right. He left her as soon as they got there to hang out with his friends and dance with other girls. She waited for him at the end, and he came out with a group of friends and apologized, but said there was no room in his car now. On his arm was one of the popular girls. Myka paced the parking lot until her father came for her. She lied and said she wanted to go home early, even though most of the cars were gone by the time he got there. They never talked about it again.

What hurt Myka the most was that no one had really expected it to go well.

Myka hadn't thought about it in years, but as she sat in the back of the taxi all dressed up and headed to the restaurant, it flooded her memory. Her boss reminded her of one of those girls in school who had it all. They were bright and got good grades, but they were equally skilled in the social graces - and this is where Myka parted company with them.

She could tell ….even before the video…..that Helena Wells was one of those _Alpha_ girls. Myka secretly hated Alpha girls. And now one of them was going to fire her.

* * *

She left the producer of the show one more message – apologizing again for missing his call – and asking him to call as soon as he could. She paid the fare and got out at the destination at 7:45. Myka didn't do late – even when it was going to be a disaster. She walked in and was greeted by the Maître d'. She could tell _Daniel's_ was a very upscale place. It was filled with patrons and yet it seemed rather quiet.

"Ah, Madame Wells is not here yet, but asked that I seat her guests," he said with a beautiful French accent.

Myka thanked him and followed him past the small tables where couples leaned in for their tete a tete.

'_Great she's going to fire me in front of my boyfriend and in a quiet place so I can't yell,_' Myka thought.

Myka sat down at the private table and waited for the others to come. Within minutes Sam arrived. It was good to see him and she welcomed him warmly when he sat down_. At least he would be there to take her home when this was all over. _

Sam asked Myka how she was, complimented her on her outfit as he eyed her up and down. They caught up in the few minutes they had before the time her boss was to arrive. She didn't know whether to share with Sam what Pete had said so that he could at least be prepared and not make a big deal of it.

"Sam look, no matter what happens here tonight, let me handle it ok?" she said to him as he held her hand.

"Sure Bunny, whatever you say," Sam said.

* * *

Helena Wells stood in her office snapping her finger at her assistant and pointing to the dress she wanted as she talked on the phone. Claudia knocked on the door and Helena cut her phone call short and dismissed the woman who had held up fifteen dresses before Helena chose the red one with the short jacket.

"Well Ms. Donovan, did our _gift_ accomplish its mission?" Helena asked as Claudia.

"I believe it did," Claudia said as she showed her boss the memory card in her hand. She placed it in Helena's computer and brought up the icon for the video. "Just press play," Claudia said.

"I was there, remember?" Helena said. "And did it remove it from Mr. Sykes' phone?"

"Yes, I decoded the file after Ms. Bering got it and transmitted it back. It will find any copies on his devices and scramble it. He'll have nothing. How did you ever think to come up with it?" Claudia said of the pen device that she was instructed to give Myka as a welcoming gift. When Myka took it out of her bag, and watched the video, it activated and wirelessly reprogrammed the file.

"The pen is mightier than the sword, Ms. Donovan," Helena said proud of her invention. "Oh and Ms. Donovan?" Helena said as the young tech was leaving.

"Yes?"

"Good job on the firewall. I haven't been able to get through ….. yet," Helena said and smiled.

Claudia thanked her and left while the getting was good. Her boss' mood could change on a dime. At the doorway though -the guilt got the better part of her though.

"Hey Boss, you don't think Ms. Bering will feel we used her, do you?" the youth asked.

"Ah, but we did my young friend," Helena said truthfully.

Helen retreated to her dressing room and changed for the dinner. As she applied her lipstick, red to match the dress, she wondered how Myka would handle the evening. Myka was a mystery to her and Helena loved the challenge of unraveling the enigmatic. Truth be told, _undoing_ people was a hobby for Helena. Ever since she was free to do as she pleased, she insisted on knowing everything about the people who were closest to her. And the best way to find out what people were really made of was to test them. She was after all, a scientist.

Helena hoped there was substance when she got to the Myka's core and not some neophyte passing for the woman who stormed into her office announcing hell was about to freeze over. She really hoped that wasn't Myka's veneer, but rather what she was really made of. Helena couldn't tolerate it if someone's backbone only visited when they were angry.

"_Let the dismantling of Myka Bering begin_," Helena said to herself and she sat back down at her desk. She pressed a number on her phone and spoke with Pierre - the Maître d'. He was not to announce Helena would be late, but he was to bring them a bottle of _Dom. Romane Conti - 1997_.

* * *

"Wow, taste this, babe," Sam said when he sipped the elixir from the glass.

Myka smiled at the wine steward because she knew he was waiting for their approval and sipping it was not the way it was done. Myka swirled the dark red liquid and took in its aroma. Then she took a small amount and let it play on her tongue. It was the most delicious thing she had ever tasted. She smiled at the steward who was pleased that someone knew how to appreciate fine wine.

Sam was busy playing with his phone. "Bunny, this is a $1500 bottle of wine!" he said looking it up. 'Someday we'll be dining like this every night," he said taking in the ambiance of the restaurant.

"Oh I don't think so," Myka said sipping the wine.

"Why not? You could have your own practice in Washington. Or teach – I've always thought you'd be a great teacher. They have good schools and you could work part time and still be home for the kids. I could get promoted to working detail in the White House. We'd have it made," Sam said taking another gulp. "Damn, that is good."

Myka smiled at how easy things came to Sam. He always believed he had life worked out. He could be charming and funny and that is what attracted her to him. His need to have things in order spilled over to Myka and she felt as if he had her life figured out too. Now he was talking about their life together, even though he never talked about marriage.

When their two year anniversary passed, Myka decided to put a deadline out there for herself. If he didn't propose by Christmas, Myka was going to move on. The holidays came and although he bought her a beautiful bracelet, there was no ring. '_Give him time_,' Jeanne said to her daughter. '_You don't want this one to get away.' _

"So how long do we have to stay with your boss tonight?" Sam asked as he bit down on a piece of bread. "And where is she? She's late."

"I don't think it will be a long dinner, believe me. In fact, I'll be surprised if we make it to the entrees," Myka said. '_Really, what is she going to do? Feed me, fire me, and then help me to the ladies room where I can throw up_?' Myka thought. '_What a bitch_!'

Myka's thoughts were wreaking havoc with her and she grabbed her wine glass and took a big sip. She really should have eaten that turkey sandwich at lunch.

"Well I have a really early return flight tomorrow morning, so maybe we could stay long enough for me to impress your boss, and then we could head back to your place. I am really looking forward to….," he said slowing - whispering the rest in her ear.

It tickled Myka and she pulled back. It was nice to be wanted, she guessed.

* * *

Finally around 8:20 Pete appeared in the entrance. He approached the table and Sam immediately didn't care for his presence.

"Who is this guy?" he asked Myka.

"Oh stop, Sam. It's her bodyguard," Myka assured him.

"Well if he's the _guard_, where's the _body_?" he said and laughed at his own joke.

"Hi Ms. Bering, nice to see you," Pete said taking in how different Myka looked.

Myka introduced them and Pete sat down.

"So where's the person you guard?" Sam asked. He was anxious to get this dinner over with so he could go back to Myka's. He had his schedule all worked out, and to make his flight back at six AM and have time with Myka, they should leave the restaurant by nine thirty.

"Yeah well she's coming," Pete said.

The waiter went to pour Pete some wine, but he waved him off. "Just water thanks."

"So you're a Federal Agent?" Pete asked as he munched on some bread. "I always wanted to do that. I was in the Marines. Thought I'd do some government work, but got involved in security and did well."

"I like it," Sam said. '_You can't ask him a question?'_ Myka thought.

"So Ms. Bering, how did everything go today?" Pete asked.

"Good. Yes, good," Myka said not wanting to say too much.

* * *

Suddenly there was a wave of heads turning and some chatter going on as people recognized Helena coming into the restaurant. She kissed the Maître d' on both cheeks and spoke to him in perfect French. Myka understood every word as she asked him how his family was and did his daughter get into the college they were hoping for. Indeed she had and he thanked Helena for all she did.

'_So the polar bear with the hedgehog inside had a soft side?' _Myka thought.

Myka watched as Helena waltzed through the room, as if she was unaware of the heads that turned to stare. She kept her eyes on the table and walked directly to them.

"_That's_ your boss?" Sam said when he saw Helena. He hadn't paid too much attention when Myka told him who she was. He didn't read the society pages so the name didn't ring a bell.

"Ms. Bering, how nice to see you. Mr. Lattimer. And this must be …," Helena said taking control of the greeting.

"Sam Martino," Sam said standing up. Helena took his hand and Myka swore she pulled him into her just a little. "It's a pleasure to meet the woman who is lucky enough to have Myka as Chief Counsel," Sam said laying it on thick. Myka groaned inside.

"Oh yes, indeed I am," Helena said sitting down and staring at Myka.

"Hey boss," Pete said. He had arrived before because Helena wanted to make her late entrance on purpose – alone. Helena sized Myka up as the type of person who had the evening planned out in her head and arriving forty five minutes late would throw off that schedule.

"What is it that you do?" Helena asked Sam. He thought she was interested, but Myka was watching her boss' face. He was being sized up and Myka knew it. _But why?_

"I'm a federal agent," Sam said proudly.

"Lovely. I did a bit of work myself with the government when I came back," Helena said and everyone assumed she meant from across the pond.

"In what capacity?" Sam asked.

"Secret government projects," Helena laughed. Only Sam found that annoying and Helena read him accurately. "Your government was …. holding onto some things for me," Helena added and it deepened the confusion.

"You mean like customs?" Sam asked.

"Something like that," Helena said and sipped her water.

She ordered for all of them when the waiter came back. "I hope you don't mind?" she said looking at them and they all said no.

"_Ordering my last meal? Nice_!" Myka thought to herself, but smiled as Helena ordered everything in perfect French.

"I don't know what you ordered, boss, but I'll eat anything," Pete said in his usual state of starvation. He excused himself and went to the bathroom.

"I have to ask, do you always have your body guard dine with you? I mean, I know a thing or two about being a bodyguard, and they usually don't dine with the people they're guarding," Sam said and then added; "No offense."

Myka reached under the table and squeezed Sam's leg to express her embarrassment.

"You're an inquisitive sort of man, aren't you, Mr. Martino?" Helena asked smiling.

"I like to think so," Sam said pleased that Helena was taking note.

"Oh I am going to enjoy this," she said looking directly at him. "Mr. Lattimer's presence is not for my benefit," Helena smiled.

Myka's stomach turned. She looked at Helena's grin. It reminded her of how animals stalk and kill their prey.

'_Oh my God. She's going to rip my boyfriend to shreds - and then fire me_!' Myka thought as she swallowed another long gulp of the red wine.

Myka was _half_ right.


	8. Just Desserts

In spite of how ill Myka was feeling she felt she better step in.

"Sam hopes to one day be on the security detail that protects the president," Myka said hoping this would explain his comment.

"A noble cause to want to protect others," Helena said as the entrees were placed in front of them.

'_Oh thank God, food_!' Myka thought hoping everyone's mouths would be too busy to talk.

Pete returned to his seat to find the largest steak the restaurant had to order. "Oh thanks Boss," he said. He glanced over at Sam's entrée which was only a small portion of what was on Pete's plate.

"So tell me, Mr. Martino, how do you feel about having a _long distance_ relationship?" Helena asked as she took a bite of her food. She timed the personal question just so Sam could not start his.

"Well, this was all Bunny's decision," he let out.

"Bunny?" Pete asked. Helena watched as the flush rose up Myka's face.

"As in _Bugs_?" Pete asked smiling. Myka's cheeks became crimson.

"No, just a nickname ….Sam…. calls me," Myka laughed trying to put more food in her mouth.

"And what does Ms. Bering call you, one is left to wonder," Helena said and Sam wasn't sure if she was asking or not.

"Just a term of endearment because she's….," Sam started to explain and Myka coughed as she choked on her food at the thought of him explaining the origin of that nickname.

Myka grabbed the wine glass and thought she caught the slightest glimmer in her boss' eyes. '_She's actually enjoying this!' _

"Are you okay, Ms. Bering?" Helena asked and Myka assured her she was.

"I'm gonna call you _Bugs_," Pete said and when Helena shot him a look of disdain, he added; "Or not."

"So will you be relocating to New York then?" Helena asked as Sam made his second attempt to eat. He put his folk down.

"Oh no, my job is in Washington. Bun…Myka knows that. No, we'll work this long distance thing out, don't you worry. Myka is yours for now," Sam said.

"Is she indeed?" Helena said devilishly. Her eyes shot back to Myka. Myka had never experienced the sensation of being locked into one's gaze like that before. 

"What Sam means," Myka said dabbing her mouth with her napkin, "…is that I have no intention of relocating…..even if there were _unforeseen circumstances_ ….let's say," Myka said looking back at her boss.

Pete was too busy enjoying his steak to keep score, but if he had been, he would have given that point to Myka.

"No, even if I lost my job, I wouldn't expect Myka to move back," Sam said because of course he thought she was talking about his career – not her own. "So what exactly does your company do, Miss Wells?" he asked.

"Oh we do a great many things, Mr. Martino. We have a biomedical engineering division, a research and development division, as well as overseeing the copyrights to all of the works of the great HG Wells," Helena said.

"And Ms. Wells does a ton of charity work," Pete added.

"Oh yes she does," Myka said in her head, but then saw the expression on everyone's faces. Those words came out of her mouth! Myka looked at each of the others and then grabbed her glass that the waiter had refilled and said….."I mean….we're quite familiar with your philanthropic work….with the HG Wells Foundation."

"I'm more of a Jules Verne man myself," Sam said and Myka closed her eyes in discomfort.

"Why am I not surprised," Helena said slowly.

"I identify more with Verne's optimistic view. To me, Wells was always more pessimistic about mankind's ability to run things," Sam said.

"Without a doubt. A view I share wholeheartedly – about – men – running things in general," Helena said, turning the phrase around to suit her. She was neither pleased nor surprised when Sam missed her point.

"What are you like his great great great granddaughter or something?" Sam inquired.

"_Oh God_," Myka murmured and took a big gulp of wine. Even Pete noticed how much she was drinking now.

"Something like that, yes," Helena said. "Speaking of HG Wells, Ms. Bering - has Mr. Kenney made his decision?" she segued.

Myka should have been expecting that question since she knew Helena instructed the man to call, but it took her by surprise and she spilled what little wine remained in her glass down the front of her dress. She jumped back and Sam went to help her, spilling his glass in her lap.

Now there was general chaos at the table - except for Helena who sat perfectly still – observing. When she saw that Myka was practically on the verge of tears, she stood up and said; "Come Myka, we'll go to the ladies room and take care of that."

Moist green eyes stared up at her. Helena's tone sounded so comforting, so caring. Myka smiled and got up and followed Helena to get cleaned up.

Then she remembered what Helena had said about the ladies room; "…_and then you and I can go powder our noses in the ladies room where you can regale me with how you solved this issue_…"

Helena wasn't being nice! She was going to the bathroom so Myka could tell her about Sykes and then tell her how she missed the producer's call. There would be nothing to regale ….. and then Helena would fire her! Myka stopped steps behind Helena who didn't notice and kept walking.

"_The hell I am walking into that room so she can do that to me_," she thought, but again the words had escaped her lips.

The couple at the table where Myka had paused looked up upon hearing her declaration. They stared at her, and then looked at Helena who had now stopped and then turned back to Myka. She realized she wasn't moving. Suddenly Myka didn't feel well – the room because very noisy and started to move. Myka was on overload and down she went slowly.

Helena was the one who moved swiftly to catch her as she fell.

Patrons jumped from their expensive meals and the Maître d' ran to Helena's side. "She'll be okay," Helena announced with certitude. "But I think we better get her home."

The waiter had to tell Sam and Pete their presences were needed. Pete shot to Helena's side as Sam leaned down to Myka.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I think she fainted," someone told him. Helena had instructed the waiter to carry Myka to a chair in the waiting area. Myka was conscious, but feeling the effects of the wine now.

"Oh hi, honey," she said almost laughing to Sam as he knelt in front of her. "What… happened?"

"You got up and passed out, Myka. I think it was that wine," Sam said, now feeling woozy himself.

"Oh yeah! You know what? I was on my way to getting fired. Was I fired, Sam?" Myka asked. Pete pulled back a little.

"Fired? No – why in the world would you be fired, Bunny?" he asked.

"I screwed up Sam," Myka said before passing out and slumping in the chair.

Pete jumped in front of Sam who was feeling unsteady. He picked Myka up in his arms and looked at Helena.

"I don't think I can take care of her," Sam said feeling ill himself.

"That's the _first_ thing you have said all evening that I agree with, Mr. Martino. Pete, take her to my car," Helena said.

She then instructed the waiter to help Sam to a cab after finding out where he was staying. "Tell Bunny I'll call her in the morning. You'll take care of her right?" he asked Helena holding his stomach.

"Indeed I will," Helena said to Sam. "Now you go home and rest, Mr. Martino. Don't worry about Ms. Bering. She's in very capable hands now."

Sam thanked Helena and got into the cab. The Maître d' asked if Helena needed any help, but she assured him she had everything under control. And she meant it.

* * *

Pete sat Myka in the back of Helena's Bentley and held the door open for Helena. "You be okay back there with her?" he asked Helena.

"Yes, Mr. Lattimer, thank you," Helena said.

"To the Penthouse?" he asked.

"No, Pete. Take us to the townhouse. My sense is that Ms. Bering will a rough night and morning," his boss said.

Pete started to drive as Helena secured the seatbelt around Myka. She slumped over onto Helena's shoulder and moaned.

"That was the worst dinner I have ever had in my life," she said in a low voice.

* * *

Pete arrived and came around to carry Myka into the townhouse on Central Park West. Located in-between rows of tall apartment buildings, the early 1900's structure with the view of the park, stood out as the only thing left of a time when gorgeous houses like this lined the street.

"Where should I put her?" Pete asked Helena. Myka felt the strong arms that cradled her and smiled. Sam was carrying her to bed.

"Follow me," Helena said as they ascended the stairs. She opened the door to the master bedroom and it dawned on Pete he was inside his boss' bedroom. He laid her down on the bed and Myka smiled to feel the soft, cool sensation on her body. She felt so sweaty and hot a few minutes ago.

"Now what?" Pete asked, wondering where his duties ended.

"Now we allow Ms. Bering to sleep off her inebriated state, Mr. Lattimer," Helena said.

"Right," Pete said, his mind unable to stop taking the next Tram to Fantasyland. "Of course," he added when Helena waited at the door.

She walked him back to the entrance and thanked him. "Do make sure Mr. Martino got to his hotel alright, would you please? I want to reassure Ms. Bering he was taken care of."

Pete assured her he would check in on him now and text her.

* * *

Helena closed the door and went back to her employee who was sprawled across her bed. She looked down at how peaceful Myka looked for the first time that night. She didn't regret the plan she put in place although she was sorry she made Myka so nervous, that she drank too much.

Had someone asked Helena if she had seen enough that evening, she would have told them – she wasn't done.

"Now let's get you out of your clothes," Helena said as she looked at the wine soaked dress.

As soon as Helena moved Myka she moaned. In Myka's intoxicated state, her eyelids were too heavy to open. But she remembered feeling Sam's strong hands carry her in here. Now he was slowly taking her dress off. For a man who seemed all thumbs sometimes, he was certainly having no trouble tonight.

"Oh Sam, I can't believe that bitch was going to fire me! And I didn't even get to tell her …wait," Myka said as her bra straps being pushed off her shoulders. "I don't think I told her about Sykes. You know what his crime is? He loves her! Yeah, he has a tape ….oh I shouldn't be telling you this…," Myka said remembering it was confidential. "And I missed the producer's call and I couldn't get him back," Myka ranted as she was released from her bra and then her underwear. By now, Sam's hands were usually all over her and yet it seemed his not zeroing in on her was turning her on more.

_What was so different?_

It was his touch - his hands were so caring, so tender as he rolled her over gently and put a nightgown on. She had never felt him be more attentive or caring. Myka felt him pull the covers up over her. _No_! she thought. She wanted him to touch her more so she reached up and grabbed him by the neck and kissed him as hard as she could. This didn't quench the fire building in her at all.

_God - he was a good kisser_ – his lips felt so full, so soft that Myka tried to push her tongue in past those lips. The fire she felt before was back, but it wasn't in her head now.

"Oh God, touch me please," Myka begged because she never felt the tension build up inside so fast in her life. She was certain if Sam only put his hand on her, she would explode.

Helena watched as her Chief Counsel squirmed in her sleep and then relented and gave into the slumber.

"Another time perhaps, Ms. Bering, another time," she whispered to Myka's request and shut the lights.

Pete checked in on Sam and even helped him get into bed. "She'll be okay with her boss right?" he asked Pete. "I mean, she won't eat her?" Sam asked as he ran to the bathroom to throw up.

Pete flopped down in a chair in the hotel room. "Really didn't need you to ask that," Pete said to himself. "I will not sleep at all tonight," he confessed.

That night, Sam slept across the hotel bed alone, wondering how his night of expected passion had turned into this. Pete went home to his apartment and took the coldest shower he could stand, but it didn't help. He finally relinquished and threw away any pangs of guilt. "Perk of the job," he convinced himself.

Myka had the most peaceful sleep of her life. The night hours seemed to be one long dream for her – of Sam being the gentle lover she had longed for. His tender caressing soothed away her vulnerabilities and his love-making was the most intense she had ever felt.

Helena woke more than once to her guest's moans of ecstasy in the bedroom next door calling out the name of the man Helena was certain was not good enough for her.

Myka's phone was downstairs, so she never got Sam's early morning text asking how she was as he made his way to the airport. Helena did reply on Myka's behalf, explaining that she was still sleeping and rested well. Sam thanked Helena for taking care of Myka.

"My pleasure," Helena said but didn't text back.

Myka woke up slowly. The sun that cascaded through the blinds was too bright for her. Her head felt as if she had hit it and her mouth was very dry. Yet, she remembered how wonderful Sam had made her feel.

_Was that because he felt bad for her? Had she gotten fired and he was trying to console her?_ She didn't remember her boss firing her. No, she would have remembered that she was sure.

Myka felt the coolness of the silk sheets. _Where was he staying that the hotel had silk sheets on the bed_? She ran her hand down her front and felt the sheerness of the nightgown. _Where the hell did he get this_? Myka forced her eyes to open and look around. This couldn't be a hotel. He must be staying with friends. Myka wondered where he was and if there was a robe to go with this short nightgown. There was and it was at the foot of the bed, waiting for her. _God, he was so thoughtful_.

Had her mother been right about Sam all this time? Was he a diamond in the rough? Myka was certain of one thing – she liked it. Whatever he did to her last night – she had never felt so turned on before. She couldn't remember everything - the damn fifteen hundred bottle of wine saw to that!

She went to the bathroom and freshened up. There was a definite feminine touch to this place. Myka's head hurt, but she was going to march downstairs and drag Sam back to bed and make passionate love to him before this wonderful feeling left her body. She would just ignore the throbbing in her head.

Myka put the robe on, stepped into the waiting slippers, and went down the stairs. She sensed there was no one else with them. She could smell coffee and heard the distinct sound of a cup being placed back on the saucer.

Sam had let her sleep! _Absence does make the heart grow fonder_, Myka thought. She listened at the swinging door and could hear him snap the paper. She took off the robe, pushed the door opened and stood there with her arm up the door frame with her hand on her hip and asked;

"Want some of _this_ for breakfast?" she asked seductively.

Dark eyes and a Cheshire like grin met Myka from the other end of the table.

Helena was _done_ playing nice.


	9. Sam I Am...Not

It took Myka a few seconds to realize that the person staring back at her – intently – was not whom she expected. She simply could not comprehend how Helena was sitting where Sam should be. She braced against the door frame to steady herself.

_What was her boss doing there? How did she find her? Did she miss her opportunity to fire her and tracked her down? - _were just some of the fleeting thoughts.

"What are you doing here? Myka said looking around for Sam. "Where is Sam?"

"He's not here," Helena said slowing getting up from her chair and walking toward her surprised guest.

"Oh no, you're mistaken. He's here. He is definitely here," Myka laughed nervously. "That's why I am ….. he…," she stammered.

She suddenly became aware of two things – Helena kept moving directly to her - and she was standing in the sheerest nightgown she had ever been in.

"Oh my God!" Myka said as she realized her state of dress. Her hands went up to cover what she could. "SAM?" Myka called out wondering where the hell he could be.

"I told you Ms. Bering, Sam is not here. We put him in a cab last night and he went back to his hotel room. He returned to Washington this AM on a very early morning flight," Helena said with a knowing smile on her face.

"No, he was here! He….he carried me upstairs…," Myka said walking backwards slowly.

She stopped suddenly and wondered how she was going to bend over and get the robe back that she dropped. There simply was not enough material to cover her if she bent over. She tried to snag it with her foot, but the material was too slippery.

"Allow me," Helena said politely - picking up the robe and holding it out. Myka would have to take a step towards Helena to get it.

"He was never here, Myka. That was Mr. Lattimer who carried you upstairs," Helena said as Myka grabbed the robe and put it on. It was like being naked in Times Square even though there was only one other person with her.

"What?" Myka said and felt gripped with fear. "No, Sam carried me … I felt him," Myka continuing her backwards march. She held onto the wall. She was going to go back upstairs and wake up from this.

"No, that was Mr. Lattimer who carried you upstairs," Helena said with a raised eyebrow.

"Look, I don't know what is going on here, but that's impossible. Sam carried me upstairs and I know because I kissed him! Unless you're telling me that your bodyguard kissed me and that did not happen!" Myka insisted. A smile came over Helena's face and her eyes narrowed.

"You did not kiss your boyfriend, dear," Helena said.

"Oh yes I did. I …was … up there and … I felt him kiss me. I felt his lips on mine," Myka said getting confused.

"Oh you did kiss someone, but it wasn't Sam," her boss said still walking towards her.

"I know my own boyfriend's lips," Myka insisted. "Are you telling me I don't know my own boyfriend's lips? I kiss them all the time and I know what they feel like," Myka said unable to look Helena in the eye.

Helena reached down and took Myka's hand gently and grazed her finger across her own lips.

"Do these feel familiar?" Helena asked. The sensation of those soft lips brought Myka right back to last night. Myka froze with the undeniable proof that those were very familiar lips. Touching them shot sparks through Myka's body and her knees literally felt like they were going to give out.

"You kissed me? You got me drunk and kissed me?" Myka yelled.

"Got your drunk? No darling, your nerves did that to you. And I did not kiss you – I let you kiss me," her boss said, clearing it up. That didn't clear it up.

Myka burst out in a nervous laugh at how ridiculous this was. She felt the bottom step of the staircase and slowly started to walk backwards up to the bedroom. Helena hadn't changed her pace – she kept following her.

"They warned me ….. that you were a polar bear…and …and …all hedgehog-y inside," Myka said – her breathing quickening now. "…..but that ego! Like I would want to kiss you!"

"Polar bear you say? Do you know they are considered _opportunistic_ hunters?" Helena said matter-of-factly. "And hedgehogs? You didn't find my touch prickly last night," Helena said.

"Your touch?" Myka said moving backwards. "Why did you touch me?"

"How do you think you got out of that dress, Myka?" Helena said devilishly. She stayed a few steps behind Myka, but she was on the move nonetheless.

"You… you took my clothes off?" Myka said – her eyes darting back and forth trying to remember something – anything.

"Well I couldn't let you sleep in ….wet….. clothes," Helena said smiling.

Myka moved back on the landing until she felt the door behind her. "I just want Sam," Myka said because this was getting out of hand now.

"Do you, Myka? Because your body language last night indicated otherwise. You want – something, Myka, but my instincts tell me – it isn't your G-man who probably has no idea what the G-spot is," Helena said boldly.

"The G? Hey! He …knows…things," Myka said wanting to defend Sam for some reason. Myka's hand searched for the doorknob. "We have….we do….just fine."

"You have the most incredible green eyes," Helena said looking into them.

_God this woman was intoxicating. _Myka wanted to move, wanted to run, but it was as if her feet were made of lead and they wouldn't move. _It was as if Helena had some kind of hold over her._

"Thank you," Myka said to be polite. "Now if you would get my clothes…."

"Do you know what I like most about light eyes?" Helena asked and Myka shook her head no.

"It's easy to see when they are dilating," Helena said slyly.

"Dilating?" Myka repeated – her brain shutting down so that she was left with mimicry.

"As in …," Helena said invading her space. She didn't want to offend Myka by being too bold. "…when you're interested in what you're seeing. Based on your eyes, I'd say you were _very _interested," Helena said confidently.

"Are you suggesting ….that ….I am interested..," Myka wanted to protest – wanted to get away until she had time to think this through, but her body was done waiting.

While her brain scrambled to remember her native tongue – her mouth opened invitingly. When she moved toward Helena just the slightest, Helena made her move. She moved in and pressed her lips on Myka's waiting mouth. The movement pushed Myka back against the door which was a good thing because her knees were having trouble supporting her. Helena instantly reached out and held Myka up.

Helena pressed gently against Myka and felt her melt into the push. She knew it was setting every nerve in Myka's being on fire.

Myka's brain was yelling at her to stop – that her boss was doing something to her that was wrong. Myka's entire body could not have disagreed more. The sensation of those soft lips on hers, pressing her back and the smell of Helena's hair was powerful. In seconds, this gave Myka a stronger buzz than the bottle of wine last night.

Helena held Myka in place for a few seconds – long enough to convince her body what she was the one who had evoked the passion the night before. She released her as gently as she had held her and Myka's body fell back against the door.

"Oh my God," Myka said and it was with a mixture of surprise and gratitude.

Helena smiled proudly. She was as confident in the bedroom as she was in the boardroom. She was aware that this was a lot for Myka to take in, and she had to think about what to do next. So she did the only thing she felt was fair to Myka; Helena opened the bedroom door and waited for her to decide if she wanted to come in.

Myka stared at Helena. Then the bed. She knew what Helena was asking her and she didn't know what to do.

"I am ….Sam…. I mean so confused," Myka said and Helena knew she was going to lose Myka if she let her think too much.

Helena reached over and kissed Myka's hand. "Only if it feels right to you, Myka," Helena said.

Everything about Helena felt right to Myka. She didn't know how or why, but there was no denying that she had never felt anything like this.

If Myka could have shut her brain down – she would have lay down on that bed and begged Helena to release the pent up fire building inside her. She would not have questioned it. But Myka was not impulsive, spontaneous and she worried about the fact that she was in a relationship. The internal argument between her mind and body was clear to Helena, who knew instinctively Myka would wrestle with this dilemma.

After all, Myka was one of those '_good girl'_ types.

Fortunately for Myka, Helena was not.


	10. Trust Me

Helena slowly navigated the space to the bed, all the time moving Myka with her. Helena prided herself on reading people's body expressions and as she watched Myka, she saw the conflict. Helena decided she would concentrate on the part of Myka that wanted this. She put her hands on Myka's forearms and let them glide down her skin. She took Myka's left hand and brought it up to her mouth. If Helena was going to tip the scales in her favor, she knew Myka needed to touch her.

Myka's body was moving in tandem. Her resistance was dwindling by the moment and thoughts were getting cloudy. She felt herself sitting, and then lying on the bed. Helena lowered her mouth onto Myka's lips.

Helena didn't realize it - because she was too busy watching Myka, but her body was reacting as well. Her breathing was shallow, her eyes were wide with intent, and the touch of Myka was pushing her over the edge. She couldn't remember the last time she kissed someone with such tenderness, such wanting.

For Helena, sex was power. She seduced her lovers and always controlled the action. No matter how many she took, no matter how hot the sex was – no matter how satisfying they were, Helena always left with the void she was desperate to fill. She thought it was a side effect of being bronzed all those years, and spent endless hours in the lab trying to discover what was physically wrong with her. Multiple tests showed, in spite of her immobility, she was healthy and in good shape.

Helena was too much the scientist to believe that what she needed was an intangible – something that could not be measured in numbers.

Helena leaned over Myka, allowing her hand to graze her thigh and slowly trace upward. Muscles contracted in anticipation of the hallowed moment when Helena's hand would invade her further. Myka gasped and Helena caught it with her mouth, allowing her tongue to probe deeply. Myka could feel her heart pounding in her chest and she wasn't sure if it was thumping out of excitement or fear. She never wanted anything so much in all her life.

Helena slid her tongue over Myka's ear and whispered – "_Trust me, Myka_,' – and Helena meant it. She wanted to give Myka what her entire body was screaming for.

That phrase shot through Myka's ear.

'_Trust me, Myka_. _No one is talking about it_,' Tracy lied after she was left at the dance. In fact, everyone was laughing about it on Monday. '_Trust me, sweetie, you don't want Sam to get away_,' her mother warned her. She knew her mother meant this was the best she would ever do. '_Trust me, Myka, Bering & Sons sounds better for a business_,' her father tried to convince her. Who names their business after phantom children? '_Trust me, Bunny_,' Sam had said to Myka countless times. And she did, even when it wasn't in her favor.

She was done trusting everyone else and not herself.

In spite of never having felt like this in her life, she knew it was wrong. Helena was her boss, she didn't even know Myka, and mostly – Myka wasn't a pawn. She saw that video of Helena. Helena left crushed hearts in her wake and didn't look back.

She reached for Helena's hand and held it, then whispered; "I can't."

This was a fight Helena believed she could have easily pursued and won, but there was something in Myka's tone that stopped her. For the first time, Helena decided this was not a person she wanted to conquer. However, that also meant Helena was allowing someone to reject her – and that didn't go over well.

"Can't or won't?" Helena asked because she was slowly sinking into hurt.

"Helena, this is wrong and you know it," Myka said and didn't believe that was the right word, but she couldn't find the right one.

_Rejecting and being told what she thought_? Helena started to seethe. She wanted Myka, had set her sights on her the moment she met her and now she was slipping through her grasp. Helena did not take losing well. She took a deep breath, got up from the bed, and walked towards the door, never looking back. The softness and tenderness that Myka felt moments before was replaced by the sharpness of her tone.

"Don't ever tell me what I know, Ms. Bering. In the bedroom or otherwise," Helena said before closing the door behind her.

* * *

"_Oh shit_!" Myka thought. "_Now she really does have a reason to fire me_."

Suddenly, Myka was uncomfortable in her surroundings and in her own skin. She didn't really know where she was, where her phone was or even where her clothes were. Or where her boss was.

Myka put her plan together. She would get dressed, go downstairs, and apologize to Helena. Thank her for her hospitality and tell her the she understood if they could no longer work together. After all, she had already screwed up the first two assignments. Myka pulled herself together and went to find Helena.

"Hey Ms. Bering," Pete said from the front hallway. He was holding Myka's dress that had been cleaned. As if reading her mind, he presented a small bag which contained her undergarments. "All done," he smiled.

"Where is….." she started, but Pete was a step ahead.

"Ms. Wells? She left for the office," he said and Myka could tell he knew something.

"Pete?" Myka prompted him, suddenly becoming less embarrassed at talking to him dressed in a robe.

"She's on the warpath. What happened here?" he said looking around for any sign that would tell him. Given his boss' mood, he expected to see things thrown all over the place.

"I …don't know," Myka lied. "Do you know where my boyfriend is?"

"Oh Sam the Man? Yeah, he spent the night throwing up at the hotel and then took the early flight back this morning. He texted you like a zillion times," Pete said. He knew because he had been instructed to make sure Sam returned home.

"You drove him? That was very nice of you," Myka said.

"Not like I had a choice," Pete slipped, but Myka caught it.

"She told you to take him?" Myka asked.

"Well, she didn't … you know…she was worried…..he was sick," Pete tried to backtrack.

"She wanted to make sure he wasn't here!" Myka surmised and grew angry. The more she thought about it, the more she realized how natural Helena had acted – as if it had all been planned out.

"She set me up!" Myka yelled realizing she had been taken here while her boyfriend was driven to his hotel room. Then she made sure Sam was on his way back so she would have time to seduce her!

"She thinks she can get away with this?" Myka asked and Pete thought she meant tell him what to do.

"Yeah, pretty much," he confirmed.

"Well not with me she can't," Myka said, grabbing her clothes and then apologizing for being rude. Pete just stared at her. Myka mumbled all the way back upstairs where she got dressed.

"Can you take me to work, Pete?" she asked when she came back down.

"That's why I'm here," he said and was sorry he did.

"Oh of course. She sent you to collect me, the crazy bitch!" Myka said and then apologized for cursing.

"You apologize a lot," Pete said as he walked her to the car.

Myka was about to say she was sorry for that, but caught herself in time. She realized her phone was beeping and she retrieved it from her bag. Six phone calls missed and ten texts – all from Sam, mostly asking if she was okay.

"_Thank your boss for me_," the last one read. "_She was so nice_."

"_You damn fool_," Myka started to type, but stopped. "_Yeah, a real peach_," she finally typed. "_Are you ok?" _

Sam texted back immediately. "_Yes fine._ _That was some wine last night! Where have you been?" _

"_Busy with work_," Myka lied. "_I'll call you later_."

_The wine, the arriving late, the threat to fire her, then separating her from Sam and taking her to the townhouse_. It was all the pieces of a plan – and the more she saw them fit together, the angrier she got.

Her phone beeped one more time. She thought it was Sam, but it was Walter Sykes texting her – asking her if she spoke to Helena and did she convince her to give him a second chance? She remembered how desperate he was – he just wanted a second chance.

That was something she was going to make sure Helena Wells didn't get. Myka called Helena's secretary.

"Eileen, this is Myka Bering. I want you to muster up all of your nerve, get up from your desk, and deliver this message to her in person for me. Tell Ms. Wells I am on my way to her office and she better be there. Tell her…are you writing this down? Good. Eileen, tell Ms. Wells …. She just ran out of chances," Myka said and cut the call off.


	11. Put the Money on Bunny

The entire office was on alert. Mass texts went out from one floor to another, from one division to the next – hell hath no fury like a Helena rejected. Dressed in a black and white _Chanel _suit, with her eight hundred-dollar _Luxe_ shoes, the text messages read; _Dressed to kill. _

It was code for – _their boss was in a foul mood._

Helena wanted to stay calm, but this was a very new situation she found herself in. It was like the lioness who goes off for the kill and returns empty handed – embarrassed in front of the whole pride. Women like Myka had experience in social failures which is why in the middle of a cab ride; the high school dance memory came back at her. She still carried it around in her psyche. Helena had no such memories – Helena knew control and winning and manipulating. It was why, after being bronzed all those years – Helena could come into the next century and succeed in business.

Helena's genius wasn't the only thing released when she was debronzed; her _chutzpah_ was renewed.

The government unit that oversaw where Helena was kept, released her from her statuette prison when they needed her help. In exchange for helping them, she was free to go – her term served and her debt repaid. Helena found herself in a world where the opportunities that were once closed off to her as a woman, were at her doorstep. Now instead of dreaming of the future and having someone else get the credit, Helena was making the future come to life and getting all the recognition.

Genius came easy to Helena. Playing nice with others – not so much.

* * *

Helena slammed doors, glared at anyone who dared look at her as she went to her office. She needed a plan and unfortunately, she didn't have experience in this. She was always the reject-or, not the reject-ee. She went into her office and looked around, as if the solution would somehow be hiding in the papers on her desk. When nothing came to her, she yelled in frustration and pushed the papers away. "ARRRRRGH!" she said as she swept them off. That didn't help.

Pete thought he was going directly to the office, but Myka asked him to make a couple of stops first. As much as he didn't want to be a party to this, he was curious about how Myka was going to take Helena on. He texted Claudia: _Start office pool now. Boss is the obvious favorite, but Myka's got spunk, _he wrote.

"_I'll write that as her epitaph_," the youth responded as she worked on a spreadsheet. "_We'll do it by the hour_?" she asked Pete because they both took office betting pools very seriously.

"_I don't' know, I'm thinking it won't last more than thirty minutes from the time she gets there. And that's assuming she goes in ready_," Pete said laughing.

"_Put me down for 29 minutes, twenty bucks on Ms. Bering_," Pete said.

"_Are you kidding? Are you betting with your heart, Sucka_?" Claudia teased him.

"_I'm putting my money on the Bunny_," Pete laughed out loud at his own joke.

"_You are going down_," Claudia warned him.

She did the spreadsheet, putting her name in the one minute slot for Helena, and sent it out to the staff. Within fifteen minutes, two hundred and fifty people had signed up for the pool.

"St. Francis will get a nice donation," Claudia said because every office pool was a 50/50 with a local charity. So far, most people had put their money on their boss within the first ten minutes of meeting and obliterating the new chief counsel. Even those who had never experienced their boss' fury, but heard the rumors - put their money on her.

Many of them said …_'Oh and Ms. Bering seemed really nice, too_,' as a way of expressing their disappointment at the foregone conclusion that this would be her last day. '_Maybe we should use the money to get her a going away present,_' another suggested.

* * *

Eileen paced the floor outside the office of Helena's room. She looked at what she had written, and then sat down convinced she could never tell her boss what was written on it. She was about to knock on the door when she heard Helena yell out in frustration and then heard the papers being swept off her desk. Eileen decided to wait.

She went down the hall for moral support, but they reminded her that they shoot the messenger – and she'd be lucky if that's all her boss did.

"But I'm in charge of taking her messages. It's my job to give them to her," Eileen pleaded.

"Do you know you're her eighth secretary right?" one of her friends asked. "In less than a year, right?"

Eileen had lasted the longest and didn't know it, but there was an office pool on _her_ retirement date.

"I would so tell her," Phil said because he had Eileen going down before her three-month anniversary.

Eileen went back to her desk while her friends planned her termination luncheon. The deli guy no longer asked who it was – he just made up the sandwich platters with the cookie cake that read; "_We wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors."_

* * *

Helena may not have known how to handle her misery, but she knew how to share it. She sat at her desk and resumed one of her favorite tasks – trying to break into the server of Wells Corp. She was at the point of decoding the program, when suddenly the image of a page appeared on her screen.

"_Knock Knock Knock_" it read. "_Who's there_?" the next screen read. "_Not you! So stop trying to hack into your own system!_" the third and final page read.

Claudia was tired of her boss trying to sabotage her work for sport. She decided on that after Myka asked her why Helena does it. "I don't really know," Claudia confessed. "So she does it for fun?" Myka asked. Claudia remembered that and decided her boss had had enough fun at her expense.

'Focus Helena, focus,' the Brit told herself.

She was losing it and for what? For someone she hardly knew? An employee who reported to her? Someone she could _fire_? A woman who obviously had no clue as to how to choose a suitable lover? Before Helena could truthfully answer 'yes' to each of those statements, there was a knock at the door.

"_For Ms. Bering_," Helena thought she heard the twenty something whisper before stepping into the office.

Eileen stared at the floor as she walked up to Helena's desk. Only then did she see the papers askew. Her stomach was in knots and she was pretty sure she would be throwing up in the near future.

"I have a message," she said looking at the pad. Helena flopped back in her chair. At least this would distract her, she thought.

Helena waited …and there was silence. She liked Eileen – which was to say – she hadn't fired her yet.

"Darling, you'll find this hard to believe, but I'm a bit out of patience at the moment, so if there is really a message on the paper you keep staring at, do you think it would be possible for you to share it?" her boss said. It wasn't sarcastic or mean, but it wasn't friendly either.

Eileen's mouth opened and nothing. Helena dropped her head into her hand. "Are you concerned about giving me this message?" Helena guessed.

"Yes," Eileen said softly.

"Oh bollocks! Just read the damn thing!" Helena snapped.

Eileen took a tiny step back as she brought the paper up to where she could read it. She took one deep breath – and the message finally came out.

"Ms. Bering called and said that I should give you this message... to tell you ...that you... better be in your office when she gets here... and that I was to write all this down and make sure that I also tell you that... you are out... of chances," Eileen blurted out and then shut her eyes. She didn't want to see what was coming next.

The first thing she noticed was the calmness in her boss' voice when she asked her to repeat that – verbatim.

"Exactly as Ms. Bering said it to you," Helena explained when she saw the confused look on the youth's face.

"OK," Eileen said standing there.

"Eileen, you need to open your eyes to read your paper," Helena pointed out.

Eileen did, but only after looking down:

"Tell Ms. Wells I am on my way to her office and she better be there. Tell her…are you writing this down? Good. Eileen, tell Ms. Wells …. She just ran out of chances."

Eileen would tell her friends later that although it sounded crazy, she swore she could feel the temperature drop in the room to freezing. However, she was happy to see a warm smile on Helena's face.

"Thank you, Eileen," Helena said.

"I can go?" the assistant asked surprised.

"Yes of course," Helena said and waited for her to get near the door. "Oh and Eileen dear? When Ms. Bering arrives, please do me a favor and tell her something for me?"

The woman stopped and turned around to her boss. She took the pen and paper and held it waiting.

"Please tell Ms. Bering….. not to come into my office …._unless_….. SHE HAS FOUND HER BACKBONE AND IS ARMED TO THE TEETH WITH WHATEVER IT IS SHE DOES!"

Eileen wrote furiously to get every word.

"And do order some flowers for her office. I want her _last_ day here to be as pleasant as possible," Helena added sarcastically.

Eileen nodded and backed out of the room, closing the door behind her. She sat down at her desk, pulled out the wastepaper basket and threw up.

Helena sat there with a smug look on her face. Myka Bering was coming to her – she _really_ was naïve.

* * *

Pete made three stops before arriving at Wells Corp on Park Avenue. He wasn't sure what Myka did at two of them, but he knew what the third one was. Walter Sykes sat in the back seat of the car with Myka.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked Myka nervously.

"Oh yes, Mr. Sykes, I am certain," Myka said.

The pair took the elevator up to Helena's floor. Pete followed them in, but made a bee line to Claudia's office to see how much money he was certain he was going to win.

"Did you call Eileen?" he asked. Eileen was going to have a key role in all of this.

"Yes, she finally stopped throwing up long enough to tell me she'd text me as soon as Ms. Bering gets off the elevator. Now, in all fairness, I think the time starts as soon as Eileen says Bering steps into the office and closes the door," Claudia specified.

"Fine – and then twenty nine minutes later, when Myka comes out, I collect my twenty five hundred dollars," Pete said merrily.

"Sorry Petey, you mean in sixty seconds when they bring Bering out in a body bag, I get my money," Claudia said.

Pete was about to challenge her, but the beeping sound on her phone stopped them. "She's off the elevator," Claudia said and sent out a company-wide update. Two hundred employees stopped what they were doing and sat at their desks waiting.

* * *

Eileen shot up from her chair when Myka walked off the elevator.

"No need to announce me, Eileen, thanks. Mr. Sykes, wait here please," Myka said and he sat down in the waiting area. "Would you please do me a favor and make three copies of these contracts," Myka said putting them down on Eileen's desk.

"Ms. Bering, I have a message," Eileen said and waited.

"Don't worry, I'd rather hear it directly from Ms. Wells," Myka said and kept walking. She knocked on Helena's door and opened it. As soon as it closed, Eileen texted Claudia: NOW!

The official countdown had begun.

Eileen looked down at the papers Myka had left and sent a second text immediately.

"BERING GOT HERSELF APPOINTED TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS!" she wrote in all caps for emphasis.

"Oh shit!" Claudia said, knowing she was 48 seconds away from losing a lot of money.


	12. If This Was a Sword Fight, Someone Would Be Bleeding

Myka negotiated very little when she spoke to Mrs. Frederic before accepting the job at Wells Corp. The one detail she was firm on was the option of applying – at any time – to become a member of the Board of Directors. In that clause was one stipulation – all she needed to have was the consent of a majority of board members. Myka had done this for a number of reasons - all of them sound financial motives. She didn't expect to execute that clause by her third week on the job.

Myka wasn't sure what Helena would do after leaving the townhouse, but she had a feeling it would not be good. She decided to get a read from the board members and so that is where she had Pete take her first. Convincing them that Helena G. Wells needed immediate legal guidance and that without it, the company would suffer, was easy. They admired their CEO …..and feared her. They gave Myka the position on a silver platter. It was the fastest work the Board had done all year.

Primarily because the CEO was not even consulted.

* * *

Myka Bering, who graduated top in her law class, knew one thing – she had better be prepared for what she was about to do. She walked in, closed the door behind her, and faced her boss.

Helena sat behind the dark cherry wood desk and smiled when Myka just walked in.

"Do you always barge into places you're not invited, Ms. Bering?" Helena asked without looking up.

"Helena, I think you and I have gotten off on the wrong foot, and I'd like to rectify that," Myka said calmly.

"Ms. Bering, the extent to which I do not care, cannot be measured," Helena said not looking up from the paperwork she pretended to be interested in. "Now why not muster up some of the well-mannered politeness that you Midwesterners are known for …..and leave."

"Well, I'm sorry you feel that way. I came here to do a job and admittedly, got off to a shaky start. I'm here to see those things through," Myka said walking further into the room. "I'd like to suggest we put our personal feelings aside," Myka added.

It sounded very plausible, but it reminded Helena that she was being asked to forget that someone had rejected her. She picked her head up to look at Myka with a cold gaze.

"Ms. Bering, did you get my message?" Helena asked.

"Eileen tried, but I wanted to hear it from you," Myka said.

Helena pursed her lips. "It was a mistake not to hear that outside, but be that as it may."

"If you have something to say to me, Helena, say it now," Myka said standing just a little taller.

"Alright. I suggested that you come here with your backbone intact, Ms. Bering. It will make landing on your arse easier," her boss smirked.

"I'm here as your chief counsel to go over corporate matters. We can discuss my body parts when we're done," Myka said back quickly. Her dismissive retort unnerved Helena.

"It's too late. You're already in here, and if you've come unprepared Ms. Bering, it will be a mistake you regret, not I," Helena warned.

"What will you do, fire me? Not until I've done what I've set out to do here," Myka shot back.

Helena stood up. Myka pulled back, but not out of the fear as Helena thought – but because she was taken by how beautiful Helena was. The white dress with the front black panel held Helena at her waist. And that black hair flowed with each movement over her shoulders. Even now, when anger filled those dark eyes, they were the most beautiful ones Myka had ever seen. Helena was exquisitely intimidating.

Myka shook her head to refocus. This wasn't about beauty – this was about brains and Myka felt that made it a level playing field. Myka knew the law – and she was good as solving puzzles – and if anyone was a riddle, it was Helena G. Wells.

"This is New York - an _at-will_ state, Ms. Bering. That means I can fire you when I want for cause," Helena said as if instructing the student.

"I know what _at-will_ means, but what exactly would the cause be?" Myka asked playing along.

"It would be failure to discharge your duties. They were simple enough, were they not?" Helena asked.

"I have resolved the two issues that were in my charge as of yesterday," Myka said.

"Bravo, Ms. Bering. A first year law student could have negotiated a copyright contract and a sexual harassment claim, so I'm sure you did a fine job. One the professors at Harvard ….," Helena started.

"I didn't go to Harvard," Myka corrected her.

"Oh, believe me, darling, of _that_ I am certain," Helena shot back.

Myka walked right into that trap and she knew it. Myka nodded her head. _OK, so this was going to be personal. _

"Why don't you leave whatever brilliant plans you intended to propose with Eileen, and I will look them over at my earliest convenience," Helena said crossing her arms.

"You'll look them over now," Myka said back and felt her stomach twist.

Myka was confident, but she knew fury when she saw it – and it was mounting on the other side of the room.

Helena stared at Myka. _Who the hell does she think she is_? Helena smiled, deciding this was okay because she wasn't done with Myka Bering yet.

"OK, Ms. Bering. Dazzle me with what a third tier law school education buys these days," Helena said as she resumed her position behind the desk and sat down.

Myka needed the papers that Eileen was making copies of, but didn't dare ask the young woman to come into the viper's nest.

"Allow me," Myka said retreating to the outer office.

The door opened close enough to the one minute mark and upon seeing Myka, Claudia was certain that she had won. She let out a loud "YES" at the thought of winning the office pool. Myka just looked at her – and the small crowd that had gathered outside the waiting area – like people at the court-house, waiting to hear the verdict.

"Eileen?" Myka said extending her hand, but looking at the group. "Not yet," she said to Walter as he rose. He sat back down.

"You're going back in?" Claudia asked, happy to see her friend, but sad to know her chance was fleeting.

"Yes," Myka smiled and went back.

* * *

"It's okay. I don't mind brown bagging it for the next twenty-seven years," Claudia said of her loss.

Eileen posted a new email update. "Bering still in."

* * *

Myka walked over and placed the first piece of paper down. "Mr. Kenney was refusing to cast a woman in the role of HG Wells until I told him another major network was interested in the pilot. He has agreed to do it your way," Myka said looking directly at her boss.

"He had no other choice," Helena said dismissing the first item by pushing the paper aside without looking at it.

"For twice the amount," Myka added. In playing hardball with the producer, Myka managed to get him to appreciate the value of using the character brand.

Helena was surprised to hear this, and pleased - but she refused to show it.

"Anything else, Ms. Bering? "

"That takes care of my first assignment. As for the second, well I'm going to need your help," Myka said and drew Helena's '_when hell freezes over'_ look. "You see, I'm your chief counsel …..not your maid," Myka said leaning over the desk, looking down at her boss. "I'm not in the habit of cleaning up other people's messes."

Helena wanted to snap back – with several retorts – but she was still enjoying this –especially since she thought she had Myka right where she wanted her.

"You are my chief counsel. You'll do what I say," Helena said calmly. It was the unwritten slogan of Wells Corp.

"That brings me to my next item," Myka said smiling too much for Helena's comfort.

Myka took the thick stack of papers held together at the top by one of those large clasps and dropped it on Helena's desk.

"What pray tell is this?" Helena asked glancing down at the papers.

"_By decree of the Wells Corp Board of Directors, Ms. Myka Bering, Chief Counsel is hereby granted temporary appointment to the Board_. _Ms. Bering is entitled to all privileges and rights for the duration of her term. By request, Ms. Bering's term is limited to …._," and Helena slowly looked up at Myka and then back at the papers and read; "…_forty eight hours_."

_The sweet easy going lawyer had gone over her boss' head and gotten the damn fools to agree_, Helena thought.

"Bold move, Ms. Bering. Now instead of replacing one dime-a-dozen lawyer, Mrs. Frederic will have to hire several people," Helena threatened. This would be remembered at the annual bonus.

"You can't fire me – for the duration of my Board assignment. That will assure me that you won't stop what I feel must be done," Myka said proud of how clever that move was. She knew it took Helena by surprise by the expression on her face.

"Which brings us to our next item," Myka announced. "Mr. Sykes. He's waiting outside."

Helena couldn't help but allow that surprise to register on her face. "Ms. Bering – going to the Board might be construed as original. Bringing the man who has laid false claims against me, is suicidal."

"He has a video. I saw it," Myka announced and fought like hell to keep those images out of her mind, but to no avail.

Helena moving up the bed with the sleekness of a jaguar was absolutely sensual no matter what team you were on. The image flashed inside Myka's head, but it might as well have appeared in her eyes because Helena caught it. In that microsecond that it took Myka to act like she wasn't thinking about seeing that image, Helena made her move.

Myka might have been winning on the corporate level, but Helena knew a playing field she was an expert on. The tables were about to turn.

"A video?" Helena feigned surprise. She got up from behind her desk, her hand to her mouth in a total act of drama. She pushed her hand through her hair and put her other hand on her hip, all the time coming in closer to Myka just so she could say in the most delicious voice she could;

"You saw it? What was on it?" the Brit inquired.

Myka searched that beautiful face to see if Helena was sincere or just toying with her, but she got stuck in Helena's ebony pools that were holding her in their gaze.

"Do you have it? Can I see it?" Helena asked.

"You want to see it?" Myka asked trying to regain the steadiness in her voice.

"Well, I think if I'm going to be accused of something and the accuser says he has proof, we should look at it, don't you think counselor?" Helena asked staring directly at Myka.

Myka knew that in the moment of letting down her defenses, Helena had pounced quickly. _Damn she was good. _

"I've seen it, Helena," Myka said clearing her throat and turning just a bit so she didn't inhale the intoxicating perfume Helena wore. It brought back memories of what had happened that morning. When she looked back at her boss, the smirk on her face confirmed she was pleased.

"And after watching it, counselor, do… _you….. feel_ …its incriminating evidence?" Helena asked slowly emphasizing the words she wanted Myka to think about.

The look of innocence on Helena's face was so convincing that for a second Myka forgot whom she was sparring with.

'_Don't ever let the client get in your head, Miss Bering_,' she heard her professor's voice shout at her. Her favorite teacher, his star pupil often battled over how to handle cases. '_You must be firm, Myka. The client is depending on you to be in charge. If they were good at being in charge, they wouldn't need a lawyer in the first place,' _he lectured her repeatedly.

Myka cleared her throat and collected her thoughts. "Helena, he could make a great deal of trouble, not only by sharing the private moment, but because he is a desperate man," Myka said.

"Hmmm," Helena said as if giving it some thought. "You seem to know a great deal about _desperate_ men, Myka, so why don't I just leave him in your hands," Helena said taking off the kid gloves.

Myka couldn't believe Helena would take another shot at Sam. She winced for a second at that remark. Helena wanted to take it back – she saw it hurt, but there was no retreating in battle.

"I have invited Mr. Sykes here today, Helena so that you can tell him to his face, that as much as he wants to have a social relationship with you, he cannot," Myka said, not showing the fatigue she was feeling.

It had been all of twenty minutes, but felt like hours to Myka. She feared Helena was just warming up.

"Isn't this why I have you? To draft notices, give counsel to people who are misguided in their attempts to get at me. Listen to me closely Ms. Bering because this applies to you as well – I- do- not- give- second- chances. If you cannot get it right the first time – you do not deserve to be here," Helena said sitting down in her leather chair - now tired of this tete e tete.

"Helena, you misunderstood me," Myka said leaning over the desk, looking down at her. "He's not here to _get_ a second chance. He's here to _give _you one."

It took a few seconds for Myka's words to sink in past that stubbornness that was Helena.

"Are you bloody freaking mad?" Helena shouted and slammed her fists on the desk. She jumped up from her seat and leaned across the desk to face her employee. "Get the hell out of my office and take Mr. Sykes with you," Helena ordered with a clenched jaw.

The next thing Myka did would become legend at Wells Corp simply because the entire staff agreed it was the first time it ever happened.

Myka calmly replied – 'No'.

Had the staff been privy to the morning activities, they would have known it was in actuality, the _second _time.


	13. The Pen is Mightier Than the Sword

There was dead silence in the room and Myka was certain the only noise was the pounding in her chest. Helena's dead stare had not changed, and for a moment Myka thought she may never blink. She could tell Helena's breathing was shallow as she took in short breaths. If flames suddenly shot out of Helena's mouth – Myka wouldn't have been surprised. She had never seen anyone this angry in her life.

The only reason Helena was silent was because she was having conflicting feelings. On one hand, this is what she asked for – for Myka to come in with a backbone. On the other hand, this was the second time Myka Bering put her in an unusual situation. In-the-same-day. And both times – they involved Myka saying _no_.

Helena didn't know whether to admire her – or thrash her.

Finally, the tension that was palpable was cut when Helena spoke.

"OK, Ms. Bering, since technically you are still on your first chance, I'll play along. Bring Walter in, but remember this...," Helena said as she resumed her position of authority behind the desk. "… what happens here is on your head."

Myka didn't orchestrate this meeting without giving thought to what it would be like for Walter Sykes. No matter how she presented it to him, he just wanted another chance with Helena.

'_What draws moths to flames_?" Myka asked her mother once. "_Don't they know they're going to get burned_?" "_They must think it's worth the price_," her mother answered. That's what Myka thought about Walter. She had explained to him that meeting Helena face to face might be very hard – but he would be sure to get his answer. He jumped at the chance and thanked Myka for doing this.

Helena was right – _this was on her head_.

* * *

Twenty three minutes after Myka had gone in, she reappeared in the doorway. There was almost as much tension outside as the crowd now had grown to a sizable amount. Both groans and soft shouts of yes were heard as those who knew their times had passed meant they lost the pool and yet, others were still in it. Pete was actually biting his nails now because he was one of the few who had put his money on the new comer.

"Mr. Sykes?" Myka called him and the new office pool was born.

Immediately people started typing into their smart phones the time that Walter would be thrown out of Helena's office. The entire time was five minutes. Most people picked the time in less than thirty seconds.

"Could someone please tell me what's going on?" Artie asked when he saw the crowd.

You would think the office manager's appearance would have made people scatter, but the stakes were too high now with two simultaneous pools. Pete grabbed Artie and explained it to him. The scowl on his face made Pete think this wasn't a good idea.

"Can I still get in on the first one?" he asked. They told him _that_ one was closed, but he could participate in the _Walter_ pool. He quickly grabbed money from his wallet and told Eileen to put him down for 'five minutes'.

* * *

"Walter," Helena said in the friendliest tone Myka had heard her use. "So good of you to indulge our new chief counsel."

Walter all but melted at the sight of his lover. He had spent hours staring at her features and each time, fell more in love with her. He had a good job at Wells Corp as their Director of Compliance. He worked there for a year before Helena even said hello to him. He had admired her from afar because for the most part, Helena didn't want to deal with anyone who reminded her there were rules to follow. She asked him to lunch and asked all kinds of questions about what his department actually did. Then she asked him to accompany her to charity functions. He couldn't believe she was asking him! Then she asked him to the Penthouse for a drink and Walter entered a world of the hottest sex he had ever had. Helena had a reputation for being a bit cold at times, but mostly because she was British. Any preconceived notion that Walter may have had was melted away as Helena came at him like a woman who hadn't had sex in years. Except – she was masterful. There wasn't an inch of him that she didn't devour in some fashion and Walter didn't know he could feel the way he did. No one – and Walter was experienced – had ever made him feel that way. He was hooked.

Walter made a classic mistake – he mistook Helena's captivating love making and attention as caring. So when she summarily dismissed him after he suggested they go away together, he was crushed. Then he was cut out – he couldn't get to Helena and it drove him crazy. So he threatened the law suit - hoping to get his chance. Myka Bering brought him what he couldn't get himself.

"Helena," he said and Myka thought he might just genuflect.

"Please, sit down," Helena said calmly. "Now Walter, Ms. Bering tells me that you filed this frivolous suit and that you have proof that might compel me to act wisely."

"Helena, the video isn't necessary now. I just wanted to talk to you," Walter said.

"With my lawyer present?" Helena asked pointing out the setting.

"She thinks it's best," Walter said and Helena smiled to think Myka had coordinated this.

"Well, I've been less than impressed so far, but let's give it a try," Helena said taking another shot.

"I want to hear if straight from you, Helena, if we don't have a chance. I want to tell you that I will do whatever it takes to deserve that chance. Don't throw away what we have, Helena," Walter implored her.

"Walter, I thought I made myself clear, but perhaps I was ambiguous at the time. I mean, the sex was incredible, was it not?" Helena asked as she ran her hand down his arm to his hand across the desk.

Suddenly, everyone became aware of Myka's presence, including Myka. Walter swallowed hard at Helena's touch and her purposeful demure look. Myka couldn't believe she hadn't seen this coming – _Helena wasn't going to be nice and explain that she and Walter had no future! She was going to chew him up and spit him out all over Myka who delivered him right to her door!_

As fast as Helena drew him into her, she pulled away. "Walter? Ms. Bering tells me you have a video. I'd like to see it," Helena said.

"Oh, well ….," Walter said looking at Myka. "Really?"

"Oh yes, Walter. I have to know what I am ….. up against. You see, you've brought grave charges against me. Ones that my counsel here has taken very seriously. So I know she would think it incumbent on me to take this matter earnestly ….and see the evidence," Helena said smiling.

"But it doesn't matter now. If you and I can just figure out a way to make this work, I will drop all my charges. It was just to get your attention," Walter admitted.

"Oh I know, Walter. And now you have it. Show me the video!" Helena said in a tone that reminded Myka who she was dealing with.

Walter took out his IPhone nervously. He had watched it so many times, that he knew exactly where it was.

Except now...it was gone.

Myka looked as Walter scrambled to find the evidence. He wasn't worried about not having it to use against Helena. He was frantic because it was a reminder of what he and Helena shared.

Myka watched the smile grow across Helena's face as she sat there knowingly. That expression told Myka that Helena already knew he wouldn't find it.

"It's not there, Walter. I had it removed from your phone… by a member of my staff," Helena said.

"That's impossible," Walter said as he kept looking. "The only person I have met with was Ms. Bering," he concluded and now he and Myka saw the look of victory on Helena's face.

Then he turned to Myka and her stomach turned to think she had somehow been a party to that. Anger grew inside her as she thought about how Helena had played her – all day long yesterday.

Finally, Helena rose from her chair – triumph written all over her face.

"Walter, I am sorry that our liaison did not end the way you wanted it to, but it has ended. It is not because we are incompatible; it is because I am interested in someone else. Amazing that I can control an entire corporation the way I do, and still not be able to control what the heart wants," Helena said sincerely to a stunned Walter ...and Myka.

_How the hell did she get that video? _

Helena walked around the desk and took Walter's hand. "Mon Cherie, I will always remember our time together. Let's not ruin the memory by extending our stay," Helena said in what sounded like a sincere tone. She reached down and kissed his hand.

SHE KISSED HIS HAND! - Flashed across Myka's brain that was till solving the video puzzle.

"I'm sorry, Helena," Walter said accepting that this really was the end.

"Thank you, Walter for allowing me the opportunity – the _chance_," she said for Myka's benefit. " ….to explain this to you," Helena said and smiled at him. "Now you can settle up what you think is best for you to do with Ms. Bering. She is after all, Wells Corp's finest lawyer. I'm sure she'll think of something _brilliant_," Helena said as she indicated Walter should leave …and take Myka with him.

Walter hugged Helena and started to walk out. Helena watched as Myka followed after him. She caught the surprised look on Myka's face when she admitted she had taken the video and that Myka was the only suspect.

The door opened and Walter walked out first. It was just five minutes, and Artie was one of the winners. He saw Walter's expression and didn't feel so happy about winning.

"He is still alive at least," Pete, the ever optimist said to Artie.

* * *

Helena walked over to her window that overlooked the busy streets of Time Square. For someone who had just won _two_, not one, battles, she didn't feel victorious at all. In fact, for the first time that Helena would admit it, she felt empty. Where was the satisfaction in conquering in love and business?

Helena had confronted a woman who was – in some ways – the closest thing to an equal that she could remember. Myka had pushed her on several issues – and had told her no – and still Helena came out on top. Why then, did she feel this gnawing discomfort in her chest?

This was new territory for Helena – to oppose someone, beat them, but then still want to be with them. She had played her hand beautifully and yet, she wanted to apologize to Myka.

Helena wasn't sure how long she stared out that window, but she truly expected to see Myka standing there, but instead her office was empty. She looked down and something caught her eye.

There on her desk lay the pen that had been given to Myka as a gift - in pieces.


	14. What an A$$

When Walter came out of Helena's office being comforted by Myka and then Myka walked back in, Pete lost all hope of winning. Myka reappeared a moment later – and when it was all said and done, Myka Bering walked out of Helena's office on the 29 minute mark, of her own accord.

In the short time it took her to walk Walter out, she had figured out how she had been made into a pawn– and took the device back to its owner. She knew in her heart Claudia had been a pawn. She patted her hand as she past her. "It's okay, sweetie. You were just doing your job," Myka said sympathetically.

Pete won the bet – he was one of the few who put his money on Myka and for that duration, but like Artie, there seemed to be no joy in having won. "_Give it all to the St. Francis fund_," he told Eileen.

Poor Eileen - it had been an emotional day for the personal assistant. The pressure of being inside Helena's office and delivering Myka's message was the closest thing to a death wish the young woman had ever experienced. And then the responsibility of updating the entire firm of the comings and goings while they waited to see who won the bet was nerve wracking.

When the crowd dispersed, Eileen realized she would be the only one there to face Helena as she emerged from her office. Eileen knew what to do. She figured it was a matter of time before Helena appeared in the doorway – and heads would roll. So she called for reinforcement.

Eileen may have been the nervous type – but she wasn't stupid.

* * *

Inside, Helena looked down at the silver object that had been taken apart – the device she invented - exposed and laid out. She looked around the room as if Myka should be standing there and when she wasn't, Helena stepped over the mounds of paper strewn on the floor, marched to the office door, and pulled it open.

"Where the hell is she?" Helena barked and stared directly at Eileen.

Silence.

"Where the bloody hell did Ms. Bering go?" Helena repeated.

"Where do you think she went?" Mrs. Frederic answered from the couch where she was seated.

"I want her back here in my office now," Helena yelled and Eileen put her head down – rather than pass out. This left only the HR Director in Helena's sites.

"And how do you propose I get her? Drag her back?" Mrs. Frederic inquired as she got up.

"If necessary!" Helena answered.

The older woman nodded her head towards the inner office and Helena grunted. Irene waited for her boss to walk in and closed the door. Eileen looked at her watch. _Would this day ever end?_

"What did I tell you Helena?" Irene said taking note of the papers all over the floor.

"Fire at will?" Helena mocked, but Irene raised her eyebrow waiting for the answer.

"_If you can't play nice, Helena, fight fair_," Helena said in a mocking tone. _God, she hated it when Irene was right. _

"Did you?" Irene asked picking up papers from the floor.

"Yes," Helena said and began the motion of the steel balls banging on her desk. Irene immediately put her hand on the damn thing.

"You're incapable of playing nice, so I take it you mean you fought fair. Then why is Ms. Donovan in the bathroom crying? And why is Ms. Bering in her office with the door closed? And why did Mr. Sykes look confused and dazed?" Irene asked sitting in the chair.

Helena stared at her HR Director. None of this was getting Helena what she wanted, but she knew the woman would not give up until she answered her.

"Ms. Donovan is naive, Ms. Bering is a sore loser, and Mr. Sykes is heartbroken," Helena answered.

"Ms. Donovan is overwhelmed with guilt. Guilt you imposed on her. Ms. Bering is feeling used and rightly so because you used her, and Mr. Sykes is forlorn because you forgot to mention from the start this was just physical for you," Irene corrected her.

Irene was not only delaying Helena now, she was just down right frustrating her.

"I should fire you," Helena said seriously.

"Again?" Irene laughed. "You've already done that twice this month."

"But you never go!" the Brit pointed out.

"So what will you do now, Helena?" Irene asked as she got up from her chair.

"Well, if you would get Ms. Bering for me I would …..," and the frustration was written on her face.

"No, you tried that and I don't think it worked very well for you. Hmmm," Irene said picking up the pieces of the pen. "Looks like Ms. Bering returned your …..gift."

"Aargh!" Helena said turning around and putting her back to Irene.

"Don't be insolent, Helena. It's unbecoming in a woman of your stature," Irene scolded her.

"Well what do you propose I do - oh wise one?" Helena ridiculed, but really wanted to know.

"You know where her office is," Irene said as she closed the door – but not all the way.

* * *

_THIS was the sage advice? Go to her? After beating her at her own game, go to her? After the woman had the nerve …no, the audacity ….to tell her no twice? In- the-same-day?_ Helena should have been able to complete this internal rant with '_when hell freezes over, I will_,' – but that pain was in her chest again.

She knew what she had to do – even if swallowing her pride was not on her diet.

She ran her hand down her dress to smooth out the material – perhaps an unconscious move on her part to signal what she hoped to do with Myka. She walked out with every intention of going to Myka's office, but realized she didn't know where it was. Eileen told her she was _on the floor beneath her_.

"Don't I wish," Helena muttered to herself as she decided to be mature about the whole thing.

* * *

Myka felt everyone's eyes on her when she walked out of Helena's office, and although they stared mostly out of admiration, Myka felt crushed inside. This is exactly how she felt when she returned to school the day after the dance. Eyes everywhere watched her – and she knew they were waiting to see if she would fall to pieces. Everyone knew her date had left her at the dance – and worse – that her father picked her up. If someone had peeled away Myka's skin that day, it would have been less painful than standing at the locker while people watched and whispered. She had been naive to think the blind date would work in her favor and she vowed she would never been taken advantage of again.

That vow wouldn't be kept of course, because Myka was a nice person – and waited for the world to respond in kind.

Myka forced herself to smile at Claudia and comfort her because she didn't want the kid to think she was angry at her. She forced herself to smile at Pete and the rest of the people who were there. She thought she'd never make it to her office, but she finally did. The first thing she noticed was the whiff of perfume that filled the room from the floral arrangements that lined her credenza. At first, she thought they were from Sam. '_He is such a nice_…,' Myka thought until she read the card. '_We wish you luck in your future endeavors_' from _The Staff of Wells Corp_.

She had hoped she at least kept pace with Helena in that confrontation upstairs, but as it turned out, Helena was always two steps ahead. She had seen to it that Myka get the message regardless of how it turned out, that she was leaving.

Leaving was not an easy thing for Myka. When people leave you all the time – it makes you have abandonment issues. Something Myka swore she had under control – given that she made this move to the Big Apple all on her own. Finally, Myka had left everyone else.

Yet standing there in the middle of her office, Myka felt abandoned. _What the hell was it about her boss that reached deep into her psyche and managed to bring up every horrible memory she had? _

Myka got her coat and bag and went to the elevator. "Please have someone bring the flowers to the local hospital," Myka asked her assistant because they were beautiful and someone should enjoy them. Myka was going home to pour herself a drink and decide what her next move was going to be.

* * *

As Myka got on the elevator and the door closed, the other door opened and Helena stepped out of it. She stared at the surroundings as if this was an unfamiliar setting. It really was – it was the first time she was on that floor. Myka's assistant shot up in her seat, never having seen the CEO there.

"Ms. Wells!" she said overstating the obvious as far as Helena was concerned.

"Yes," Helena said look around, hoping she would find Myka on her own.

"Ms. Bering?" Helena asked.

"You just missed her. Shall I call her on her cell?" the woman asked.

Just then Helena saw the mail room manager wheel out a large cart from an office with six vases of flowers on it. "Going to Mercy Hospital right?" he asked not taking note of whom he was interrupting.

"Yes," the woman answered.

Helena looked as the flowers bounced as he wheeled them away. Orchids, roses, daisies – all arranged beautifully, but carrying a terrible message. Helena had instructed Eileen to have them sent - to wish Myka a bon voyage.

"Did Ms. Bering see these?" Helena asked the stunned woman.

"Yes, Ms. Wells, she did," she answered.

Helena shook her head at the realization of just how far she had pushed things this time.

"I'm a bloody arse, did you know that?" Helena asked, looking directly at the secretary.

"Yes, Ms. Wells," she automatically answered and then gasped when she heard her own words.

"No, you're right," Helena said – taking the elevator back up to her office.

* * *

Myka held it together as long as she could and that turned out to be until she was in the back of the cab she hailed to take her home. She pushed dark sunglasses up on her face, but as she cleared her throat to give him the address downtown, her voice cracked.

"Bitch of a day?" the cabbie asked sympathetically.

"Yeah," Myka said smiling back. The smile was forced, but the tears would have their due. Those she couldn't hold back.

Myka paid the man and tipped him generously because she decided kindness was a rare commodity in this concrete jungle. She pushed the key in the door and closed it behind her, finally safe in her own home.

Her phone rang – and when she looked down it was a familiar number. She hesitated because she was still feeling the sting of what had happened, but she didn't want to be alone either.

"Hi Sam," she said swallowing hard to sound all right.

"Bunny? Are you okay?" he asked because he heard the cracking in her voice.

Myka was trying to decide how much to tell him. The last thing she needed to hear was '_I told you so'_ from him. "Just a bad day at work? " she finally said.

"Your boss?" he asked.

"Yes," was all Myka could say.

"Oh really? But I thought I made such a good impression on her last night," he said because that's how Sam's mind worked.

Myka toyed with telling Sam that the news flash was this had nothing to do with him, it had to do with her and that news flash – he had no influence over her boss because no one cared about Sam in New York and news flash ….

"I'm on my way, Bunny," was what he said that interrupted Myka's stream of consciousness.

In spite of the raging confusion going on in Myka's head and the voice that was shouting '_you need time alone Myka,_' - she heard her voice say 'OK'.

"I can be there by 7:30 and we'll go to dinner and talk it all over," Sam said.

"OK," Myka said again because it was the easiest answer.

"You go lay down and I'll text you when I land," Sam said.

Myka hung up and took off her dress and lied down – out of sheer exhaustion. She dissolved into the tears that the lessons of the day brought. Maybe she was too naïve for this business. Maybe she should teach literature like Sam said. She loved literature. Myka grabbed the pillow and prayed for sleep to just give her an hour's rest from the confusion.

* * *

Helena returned to her office and gathered her things. She asked Eileen in the most pleasant tone she had ever heard, to ask Pete to get her car ready. And for the first time in ages, Eileen heard Helena said 'goodnight' when she walked back to the elevator.

Pete smiled nervously when he saw his boss. He had a sixth sense about people and could tell when something wasn't right. Every fiber in his being told him something was not okay with Helena. He drove her Townhouse and opened the door for her.

"See you at eight?" he asked her. She looked at him quizzically.

"You have that charity dinner at the Waldorf Astoria at eight tonight?" Pete reminded her.

_Damn charity functions_, she thought. "Cancel it for me," Helena said quietly.

"Can't do, boss. The Mayor's at this one," Pete said.

"Fine, pick me up at eight," Helena relented. She was always fashionable late.

Helena went into her house and closed the door. There on the banister was the robe Myka had on this morning. She had absent mindedly brought it down with her when she was leaving. Helena picked it up and brought it to her chest – the place in her body where the pain was the worst. _God, how she missed that woman._

* * *

Sam was close to the DC airport and in no time, had a flight. Then he called ahead to New York and booked a table for two at a really nice restaurant. A buddy of his ran security there and owed him a favor. He decided to book a hotel room there as well. He would let Myka cry over dinner and wine and get it out of her system. Then he would take her upstairs to their suite and they could finally have the romantic evening they had missed the night before.

Nothing would get in his way tonight, he thought.

"_Hello, is this the Waldorf Astoria reservation desk? I'd like to book a hotel room for tonight for Mr. and Mrs. Sam Martino." _

Sam whistled as he packed a bag for his rendezvous with Myka, unaware that _something_ was definitely going to get in his way.


	15. Ready or Not

Sam called his supervisor and told him he was taking some of that accrued vacation time he was always yelling at him to take. Just a day or two to clean up a problem in New York he told him. Sam was all about cleaning up problems. He was sorry to hear Myka sound upset, but maybe this little taste of New York was just what she needed to realize it would suit her better to be with him. After all, he thought, they made such a great couple. '_You're one lucky sonovabitch_,' his friends said after meeting Myka. Sam was sure Myka heard the equivalent from her friends – except when he thought about it – he never really met any of her friends. He met her family, but she didn't really seem to have many friends. She'd make friends in Washington, where Sam was certain she would return after her stint in New York.

As he made his way to the airport, what was going on didn't make sense to him though. Myka's boss seemed to like him even if she was a tad rough around the edges. And Myka was such a nice person, how could she not like Myka. It must be her, he thought. Well, no matter what happened, the federal agent was certain he was the cure for whatever was ailing Myka.

* * *

Myka wasn't quite sure what was ailing her. In less than twenty-four hours, she had been threatened to be fired, given unusual assignments and then summarily dismissed when she presented the results, she had been conned and used, she had been seduced and hit on by a woman ….and if Myka cared to admit it, she almost let it happen. That detail bothered her the most. As Myka lay in her bed trying to sleep, all she could think about was how easily she fell under Helena's spell. She expected to admire her boss – her business savvy was well known. She thought she might even feel jealous – the woman was beautiful after all. Myka - never in a million years expected that her boss would make a move on her. And more surprisingly, Myka knew in her heart she had come _that close_ to letting her.

Sixty minutes after falling asleep, Myka woke up startled; certain someone had whispered her name in her ear – someone with an accent.

* * *

Helena never felt so alone in her own home and it started to get to her. She rushed upstairs, threw her clothes off, and changed into something more appropriate for her workout. She went into her basement which was part laboratory, part gym and proceeded to warm up for her routine. Then she donned her hands in thick tape and proceeded to pummel the boxing bag. Pete had made a suggestion to her that kickboxing might just be the release she needed and taught her a few things. She was a quick study, and soon Pete refused to spar with her out of fear of damaging himself.

When Mrs. Frederic ordained him Helena's _date du jour, it_ was an attempt to keep Helena's affairs out of the daily headlines. Irene thought Pete would be able to go with Helena and keep her out of trouble. In spite of Pete's military training, that was a tall order. Helena was, after all, his boss. A hot boss, but his boss nonetheless.

* * *

Eileen sat on the crowded train on her way home to Brooklyn. '_What do you want for dinner_?' her mother texted her. '_Chicken parm, mom, please,_' she sent back. She knew it was a lot of work, but she needed her favorite mean after the day she had. She looked forward to the meal that her mother would serve, but not the lecture about how she should quit that job working for that nasty woman.

* * *

"Bollocks!" Helena yelled when she remembered the other thing Irene had suggested. She interrupted her workout, picked up her phone, and clumsily pressed the buttons.

Claudia Donovan was at the bar with her friends. After the day she had, all she wanted to do was throw back a couple of cold ones and forget what happened.

"Come on, you can talk to me," her best friend in the world, Steve said to her. He was the closest thing to a brother she had since hers was off in Europe working at CERN.

"I don't want to talk about it. I feel so fracking guilty. This new lawyer, she's so nice. Like from Colorado or somewhere. Really sweet, but really smart, you can tell. And my boss who is a freaking genius – gawd, the things she comes up with. A device that looks like a pen that can pull a video off of any device, scramble it and recode it and put it back so that it infects any other copy of that video? I mean, come on she's like Batman and Steve Jobs all in one," Claudia spilled as she sipped.

"So she made you give the lawyer the pen and you feel bad because…," Steve prompted her.

"I helped with the recoding part. I didn't know what it was for at the time, but then she selected me to work on it with her! I mean come on; the CEO says I want you to program my device? But then, the lawyer figured it out. Not that I wouldn't have felt bad anyway, but I saw the look in her eyes like '_damn, I was duped'_ when she came out of my boss' office. She told me it wasn't my fault, but it kinda is. Still, you do not want to piss my boss off and some days, breathing can do that. Oh it was a long bitch of an afternoon and you know what that means?" Claudia asked as if Steve would have a clue.

"More Bud-Lites?" he asked as he waved the bartender to bring them.

"It means my psycho brainiac boss will try to break through the security system again. I wouldn't be surprised if she as doing it now," Claudia panicked and grabbed her IPad. Steve grabbed it from her.

"So what if she is? What happens? She gets into her own stuff? You gotta calm down, Claud. This job is eating you up. Why does everyone ask '_high how?'_ when this woman yells '_jump_'?" her friend asked.

He had seen the tech whiz give up weekends, miss concerts and outings because of frantic phone call from someone at work that the boss got through the fire wall…..again.

"She's …..," and Claudia had trouble filling in the next word. There was no denying that her boss was a technical genius and Claudia knew she could learn a great deal from her – if only she could teach Claudia instead of barking orders at her.

"She sounds bored to me," Steve said, emptying the bottle of its cold contents. "Drink up, you're losing."

Claudia did drink up, but she gave serous thought to what Steve had just said. When he excused himself to go to the bathroom, she took back her tablet and checked her emails. _Whew_ – no breaches.

Her boss must be busy with something else.

Steve returned and was glad to see his friend start to relax. Then her phone beeped and she shot up like a soldier at attention.

"Yes, Ms. Wells, I can hear you. No, I can talk, I'm not busy," Claudia said and Steve stood next to her and saluted. Claudia pushed him away and went outside.

"Ms. Donovan, it has been brought to my attention that you were perhaps regretting your involvement in acquiring the video from Mr. Sykes," Claudia heard.

"No, not at ..I mean…. It was… you asked….I … a little," Claudia said, grabbing her face at how terrible that sounded.

"Well, I would like to relieve you of that guilt Ms. Donovan. It was upon my instruction that you presented that pen to Ms. Bering and I asked for you to provide a program that would accomplish what I needed it to do. You were complying with my instructions as you should. Had you not complied, I would have fired you, so there is nothing to be upset about. We're all big girls here," Helena said.

"Yes, big girls …yes we are," Claudia said because she was close to driveling.

"Do you feel better?" Helena asked and the impatience was clear in her tone.

"Oh yes … guilt free…just like low-fat Oreos," Claudia blurted out and knew she lost her boss on that.

"I have no idea what that means. But... very well. I will see you tomorrow then," Helena said and hung up.

* * *

Helena hated cleaning up problems. Isn't that what she had a staff for? Did she have to do _everything _herself?

Helena pushed against the large punching bag just enough for it to come back at her. The animate object suddenly reminded her of everything and everyone who was coming back at her today.

That started the self-talk – along with her physical workout ….

_Really, Helena, next you'll be visiting the sick and poor if it's up to Irene - (_DOUBLE KICK_). You're not a social worker for God's sake; you're the bloody - (_WHAM_) CEO -(KICK) of the whole -(_WHAM_) bloody -(_KICK_) company -(_DOUBLE KICK_). Play nice or fight fair my arse_ -(WHAM)_. You didn't get to where you are by playing nice -(KICK). Playing nice got Charles famous -(_WHAM_). Fighting fair got you bloody bronzed for a century (KICK) only to be released when they needed YOUR bloody time machine - (_DOUBLE KICK_). You did not get Wells Corp in the Fortune 500 - (_WHAM_) by playing nice dammit! Now all of a sudden everyone's feelings are hurt - (_WHAM_). Well damn their feelings (KICK) and damn their guilty consciences (_WHAM)….._) and DAMN YOU MYKA BERING! _

Helena pushed so hard against the heavy bag that it swung back with force and knocked her over. Anger spewed as she glared at the object as if to say '_how dare you_!' She pushed the bag with both feet from the floor and turned over to get up ….forgetting Newton's laws of motion ….

The bag …swung back and knocked her down …again.

The neighbors on the 12th floor in the apartment building next to Helena's Townhouse dialed 911 – certain that a murder was being committed next door to them when they heard the screams. When the cops arrived ten minutes later, they were assured by the owner of the townhouse that everything was just fine. They were easily convinced when they saw the tall dark haired beauty in shorts and sports bra, covered in sweat. Had they inspected the premises, they would have in fact seen that the punching bag had met its demise.

Pellets poured out on the floor from the wound Helena had inflicted upon it with the knife from her laboratory. She went up and took a cold shower.

* * *

Myka woke up from her restless nap. The day seemed surreal to her now. She decided a hot shower would help. Then she pulled something out of her closet to wear to dinner with very little thought. As much as she wanted to see Sam, she wanted to just stay home and curl up in a ball.

Then Myka's self-talk started –

_Oh that is just what Sam would like to see, isn't it? You curled up hiding from the world because you got knocked down once! So what? Lots of people get knocked down and get back up to fight another day. Get up Myka and show them what you're made of. Don't be the wuss who can't take a little confrontation. Push back Myka. Don't let Sam think he can rush to your rescue. You do not need to be rescued, Myka! You need to fight back and stand up even if it is to that crazy bitch of a boss of yours. DAMN YOU HELENA WELLS! _

Myka brushed her hair so hard while having this conversation with herself that her hair was completely straight – the way Sam hated it. She got ready and read the text from Sam that said he landed and would meet her at the restaurant. His second text said to pack an overnight bag.

"_Overnight bag? For what?"_ Myka thought. Then Myka reflected back to the romantic evening Sam wanted last night. She was torn … did she want a romantic night with Sam? Maybe that's what she needed to forget about today…and this morning ….and last night …and yesterday afternoon. While Myka was busy trying to decide, she found she had thrown a few things in a bag. Myka didn't know what she wanted.

* * *

Sam got into a taxi and settled in for the forty-five minute ride. Feeling a bit like a knight in shining armor, he smiled to think how he was coming to Myka's aid.

Sam was ready for tonight - of that he was certain.

* * *

Myka knew she felt mixed up and was angry now at Sam and the world. No wait. It wasn't Sam – he was trying to be nice. And it wasn't the world. It was Helena! If she got the chance to tell Helena what she really thought of her, she would. Maybe even tomorrow! She was in the cab on the way to the restaurant – still rehearsing what she would say to her boss. _'Are you insane? You can't treat people like that. I won't stand for it_,' Myka said in the tiniest whisper, but loud enough for the cabby to glance back in the rear view mirror. He had seen worse. Myka got out of the cab with renewed vigor.

She was ready for tonight whatever it brought – of that she was certain.

* * *

Pete picked Helena up at 8 as instructed. "Wow," Pete uttered when he saw her.

She even looked like she was in a good mood. Amazing what a _Donna Karen_ dress and _Jimmy Choo_ shoes can do to lift your spirits.

That and the self-talk that convinced Helena she was done playing nice …. And fighting fair. Helena G. Wells got to where she was by going after what she wanted ….and getting it.

"All ready for the mayor, boss?" Pete asked.

Helena's eyes gleamed at him from the back seat.

"Mr. Lattimer, I am ready for anything tonight, of _that_ you can be certain."


	16. Revenge is Sweet

The only thing that the incumbent Mayor of New York City could be certain of was that it was going to be a rough fight to be reelected. He had done a good job by most standards, but NY was a tough town and _you could never do everything that needed to be done_. When he had said those words to the woman of his affections, she suggested he not make that his campaign slogan. He would have married Helena Wells in a minute if he could, but as soon as he got close to her, she pulled away. He had to settle for the occasional dinner which was always great for his stance in the polls the next day. Having Helena on his arm was the best boost his campaign had. Unfortunately, the only way to get her on his arm was to take part in a charity function or event that was dear to Helena's heart or give in on something she wanted the City to do. When she was insisting that Tesla have his own exhibition, it took some string pulling in City Hall. The Mayor was more than willing to help Helena – but all their meetings had to be over dinner. More than once, he joked and told her she ran Wells Corp and not New York City. He found no comfort in her retort of, '_not yet._'

Now Helena wanted to bring precious works of art on a tour throughout the City. The well-to-do collectors with their expensive art work weren't in line signing up for such an idea. So tonight's dinner was an opportunity for them to talk with Helena to see if she could convince them there was a security system out there that would make it impossible for anyone to steal their precious Rembrandt or Picasso as it toured the streets of Brooklyn.

Perhaps if Helena had had a better day, she might have been more cordial in her attempts to persuade. Helena was frustrated on a level she had never felt before and she couldn't connect the dots. The only thing she did know was that since Myka Bering came into her life, it was as if all the rules were changed.

Helena was going out to tonight to set the well-to-do's straight …and anyone else in her path.

* * *

Sam knew that it didn't sound romantic, but the _Bull and Bear_ restaurant was one of the best steakhouses in New York. More importantly, it was right in the hotel where he had booked a room that cost him – even with his friend's discount – a good chuck of money. It was worth it, he thought, because Sam was on a tight budget and schedule. He couldn't be running to New York every time Myka had a meltdown. He knew in his heart that Myka Bering was the best thing that ever happened to him. He had his share of women, but none were as bright or funny as Myka. Growing up in a house filled with boys, Sam lacked the finer skills in negotiating a relationship with a woman. He decided his parent's marriage worked out just fine, so he set out to do the same. Sam forgot that times had changed and women wanted more. Myka wanted more. Every time he asked Myka what it was she wanted, she wasn't sure. So Sam figured he knew how to make it work. Just because all the rules had changed, didn't mean you couldn't make them work for you.

As soon as Myka stepped into the massive lobby with the vaulted ceilings, she knew she could afford this dinner, but Sam could not. He must be out of his mind, she thought. Then she remembered Sam's extensive network of friends who worked in security and figured somewhere in this hotel was a former agent who got Sam a good deal. This was New York, she thought. So many people coming and going dressed to the nines to the various functions in the hotel. Besides the fine dining, there were several rooms with events going on in them.

The "_Traveling Art_" dinner was in the Grand Ballroom which pleased Helena because she knew that room well. She knew exactly where the exits were. Myka made her way to the restaurant a little before eight and watched as the wealthy couples made their way to the ballroom. Myka had those Cinderella dreams when she was kid and wondered what it would be like to go to one of those events. She smiled as she envisioned herself there, but the image disappeared when she thought of Sam. Why couldn't she hold onto that image and include Sam? It was the damnedest thing she thought as she made her way into the restaurant.

As soon as Myka came into the room, it light up for Sam. This was the woman he was going to spend the rest of his life with, he was certain. He kissed her as she got to the table and sat across from her. The candle on the table lit up her face in a soft glow and Sam's heart melted.

"Oh Bunny, what happened today?" he asked when they got settled and he ordered a bottle of wine.

"Oh Sam, it was awful. I don't know…. I don't really want to talk about it," Myka said holding onto this hand across the table.

"Crazy boss?" he asked.

"Yeah," Myka gave the short answer. She wasn't up to admitting she had been part of a scheme.

"Law is like that, you know that. It's why I always thought you'd be happier….," Sam started.

"Sam, I know what you're going to say. If I wanted to teach, I would teach," Myka said and startled him.

"Sure, Bunny, I know," he said back deciding she really was upset.

* * *

Myka was more quiet than usual over dinner, but Sam didn't notice because he filled the gaps in the conversation with talk about his job and how hard it was lately. Myka smiled and listened politely, but wasn't really paying attention. Her mind was somewhere else as they enjoyed the meal Sam ordered for both of them. Her mind was on what she was going to do tomorrow when she woke up. How could she just walk back into her office as if nothing had happened? She hadn't technically been fired, and yet it was clear to her that she could never work with or for her boss again. She would write a letter of resignation tonight and decide in the morning how to get it to Helena. She could have it messengered or she could just march right up there, push her way into her office, and shove the paper in the crazy bitch's hand and say, _"THERE_!"

"What? There what, Bunny?" Sam asked because Myka had said that out loud.

"What?" Myka asked surprised by his question.

"You said _there!_" he prompted.

"Oh, yes. There…. There…. is what I want….. for dessert," Myka smiled uncomfortable and pointing to the cake on the table next to them.

Sam smiled and wiped his mouth with the linen napkin. "I have a surprise for you, Bunny," he said from across the table with a gleam in his eye. Myka hated it when his eyes got like that.

Sam met a friend of his who ran the security detail for the Mayor of New York. He was there that night to oversee an event the Mayor was at. He suggested that Sam bring his date after the dinner was over to mingle among the crowd and dance. There would be so many people, they'd never be noticed. Sam thought this would be the best way to get their romantic evening kicked into high gear – dinner, wine, dancing… and then dessert.

"I really just …want cake," Myka said.

"I know and you shall have it, but first – we go dancing," Sam said motioning the waiter for the check.

Myka wanted to offer to pay because she knew this was more money than Sam spent in a week on food. He had a good job, with great benefits, but it was the government after all – an employer not known for its high paying salaries.

"Dancing? Oh Sam, I don't want to go dancing. I am exhausted," Myka tried.

"Not to worry," Sam assured her while he paid the bill. "You're in very good hands."

* * *

Helena had arrived at 8:15 and slowly made her way to the Grand Ballroom. Pete was in his tuxedo and was as comfortable in it as he would have been in a strait jacket. It was the same problem his mother had every year when trying to take the family Christmas picture. "J_ust sit still please_," his mother would beg to no avail.

"How _did_ you manage to get married, Mr. Lattimer?" Helena asked as they made their way up in the elevator.

"I knew there was ….," he caught himself when he saw the raised eyebrows on his boss. She knew exactly what he was going to say.

"Well, perhaps we can find you a rich bored woman tonight darling," Helena said as the door opened.

Pete thought better than to say ...'_wait, aren't you a_ …..'

Helena walked through the crowd until the Mayor was in her sights. She kissed him on the cheek, greeted the people around him and then set out to do what she did best –convince people her way was the best way. Even people, who were determined not to participate in this ridiculous program, were suddenly willing to listen to what the ebony eyed woman had to say. Helena lathered her words with her British accent that made many of her phrases sound more like melodies.

"Believe me, I know a thing or two about being cooped up," Helena said to the patrons.

Helena was losing patience in spite of the success. Truly, she didn't want to be there. She didn't know where she wanted to be, but it was not here among the masses.

When one man hesitated to share his Monet with the exhibition, Helena leaned into him and told him he was a _heartless individual who would rot in hell for his selfishness_. The Mayor grabbed her arm in time to laugh and smooth things over.

"Don't worry, Elon, Helena is just anxious to have your art be a part of such a great cause," he said as he tried to calm one of his largest contributors.

"Helena! Elon Musk does not like being spoken to …," the Mayor tried to say.

"I do not care what that man, nor any man in this room cares to hear," Helena said back in a tone that made it clear she was done for the night.

"Come dance with me. One dance," he begged her, not to improve her mood, but because it was the perfect photo op.

Helena was about to protest and explain that wild dogs could not get her on that dance floor when something caught her eye. The area was very crowded, but she was certain she saw _someone_.

"Yes, let's," Helena said, grabbing the surprised Mayor and taking him to the dance floor.

"You're leading again, Helena," the Mayor complained as she glided him towards the area she wanted to be.

* * *

Sam had practically dragged Myka into the Grand Ballroom, but once she saw the opulence and grandeur, she was a willing captive. This is the room she dreamed about when she was a little girl. This was the room where the princess danced and met her prince. Myka felt as if someone had lifted her up and transported her to her childhood dream.

"Oh Sam," she said as he took her in his arms as they began to make their way around the floor.

The Mayor had hoped that tonight would give him an opportunity to ask Helena an important question. She seemed to be acutely aware of what showmanship was all about and so she would understand that he thought she could help his reputation a great deal. All she would have to do is agree to tone down the antics of her affairs and spend more time with him. In exchange, he would see to it than any proposal she had about the City – would make it through any red tape. If she found it so appalling, she could break their arrangement, but not until after he won the election. It seemed like an equitable agreement to him.

This lack of insight would be the reason he might be a one term mayor.

When the orchestra saw the Mayor was taking the floor with his guest of honor, the music changed to the prearranged song he picked out. The violins swelled and the soprano took the stage and began to sing the words to "_Unchained Melody_."

"_Oh, my love, my darling_  
_ I've hungered for your touch_  
_ A long, lonely time_."

As Helena pulled her unaware party across the floor, she tried to put a plan into place. Something about catching just a glimpse of Myka made her feel uncertain. She had just talked resistant art lovers into loaning their precious possessions, and yet she couldn't think straight about this. She turned the Mayor around so that she could see Myka and Sam. _What the bloody hell was he doing back? _She didn't like him.

"_And time goes by so slowly_  
_ And time can do so much_  
_ Are you still mine?_"

"Helena," the Mayor whispered in her ear. "You're hurting my hand," he said of her grip that was crushing his knuckles.

Myka loved this song ever since she heard it in "_Ghost_" with Patrick Swayze.

"_I need your love_  
_ I need your love_  
_ God speed your love to me_"

Myka leaned into Sam and put her head on his shoulder, but suddenly she could smell the beautiful aroma that was very familiar to her – in a haunting kind of way. She pulled back and took a deep breath. It wasn't coming from Sam. It wasn't cologne ….it was perfume. It was very strong and the more she inhaled, the more it drew her to it.

"Are you ok?" Sam asked as Myka twisted her head back and forth like a bloodhound on a scent.

"What? Yes, of course," Myka said embarrassed by her action.

* * *

"And _you_ think she would be _thrilled_ to dance with me?" the Mayor asked Helena for clarification. They were only a few feet away.

"She's my chief counsel, under me. Does whatever I say," Helen said as she insisted he ask Myka for a dance.

"And you want me to just cut in? They look like a very cozy couple," the elected official noted. Helena did not appreciate his assessment.

"You're not doing this just so you can dance with her boyfriend, are you?" he laughed and then caught the dead stare Helena held the man in.

"Oh yes, I can't _wait_ to get my hands on him," Helena said in a sinister voice.

"Don't hurt him if he's a democrat Helena," he kidded.

* * *

When Sam told Myka that the Mayor of New York City was walking toward them, Myka could not have cared less. She was still trying to figure out where that perfume was coming from. It was getting stronger.

"Ms. Bering, I have it on very good authority that it would do me a world of good if I cut in and asked you to dance," the Mayor said cordially.

Sam was so impressed that the Mayor wanted to dance with his girlfriend that he practically handed Myka over.

And then... Myka saw her.

When the Mayor stepped aside to extend his arm to Myka, Helena appeared. Myka stared at that fair skin that glowed in the dim lights, and that black hair that cascaded down and she remembered what it was like to have it flow against her skin. The aroma that had captured her was Helena's _Chanel_ -and Myka actually gasped when she saw her.

_How could the woman who had brought her so much pain be such a sight for sore eyes? How could Helena do that to her when she didn't even seem to look at her?_

"It would be my pleasure," someone said, but it wasn't Myka. She was speechless. Sam had relinquished his girlfriend so quickly he had hardly noticed who was going to dance with him. Then he saw Myka staring – intently – and caught sight of what had her attention. He was confused why Myka didn't look mad thought. She looked ….if he had to say…enamored. How could that be?

Helena smiled at Myka as she took the Mayor's arm and watched as they faded into the crowd. Then she turned and looked at the man who was standing by himself in the middle of the dance floor.

"Mr. Martino, I never expected to see you again... so soon," Helena said smiling. "Shall we?" she asked waiting for him to catch on that they were the only couple out on the dance floor not dancing.

"What? Oh yes, sure," Sam said not sure how he felt about Myka's boss. He took ahold of Helena's waist and hand and started to move around in the square that constituted his dance move. Finally, he worked up the nerve to say something.

"Myka tells me she had a rough day at work," he said to Helena.

"And you rode all the way from Washington on your white steed," Helena smiled. The sarcasm was lost on him.

"Well, Myka needed me," Sam said with pride.

He couldn't explain it, but he felt a certain competitiveness with this woman who was trying to lead him around the floor.

"You're an interesting sort, Mr. Martino. It's as if you time traveled here from the early 20th century," Helena remarked.

Sam laughed. "You think I'm old-fashioned."

Helena raised her head and gripped him in those black pools. Then she leaned in close and said, "I think you're a self-absorbed misogynist who isn't good enough for Myka, but that's just my opinion," Helena whispered in his ear.

"What? I'm sorry, with the applause, I couldn't hear you," Sam said to Helena as the song ended.

"I said, it does not matter what I think of you, Mr. Martino, it only matters what Ms. Bering thinks," Helena smiled cordially.

"Oh she's crazy about me," Sam said. "As I am about her."

Visions of that punching bag popped up in Helena's head. She had the urge to snap this man right in two.

* * *

The song was over, and people were dispersing. Myka returned with the Mayor. When she caught sight of Helena with Sam, she immediately scanned Sam's entire body to see if he was hurt.

"I wonder if I could steal Ms. Bering away for just a moment," Helena said looking directly at Myka.

Myka wanted nothing more than to say '_Go to Hades, Helena Wells_,' but felt her head nodding yes, of course it would be okay.

"So you're a democrat, right?" the Mayor was asking Sam as he brought him to the bar.

'_Oh this is going to be good_,' Sam thought as the Mayor droned on. '_Myka will give her boss hell and get all fired up and then we'll head upstairs.'_

Helena walked over to an Exit that she knew would lead them to a small room where they could talk. Myka followed all the time wondering which thing she would say first to her boss. Maybe she would just tell her she was resigning or tell her what an ass she had been or …..or tell her that she wasn't taking that kind of crap from her even if she was her boss or maybe she would …..

Helena closed the door to the private dressing room that was provided to her by the hotel staff. Sincere apologies never came easy to Helena. She took a deep breath.

"Myka, I wish to apologize for today…..," Helena started, but suddenly... she saw Myka coming at her.

"_Oh bloody hell, she's going to hit me_," - is the thought that raced through Helena's mind. She backed up against the wall expecting her face to be slapped.

Then she felt the softness of Myka's lips on hers as her head banged against the wall from the impact. Soft hands grabbed Helena's jaw as Myka pushed her mouth down on Helena's with force.

"_Bloody hell, she's kissing me_," was Helena's next sweet wonderful thought.


	17. Tea and Sympathy

Eileen changed her clothes and headed out the door, all the time her mother sharing that she thought this might be a waste of her time.

"Mom, I told you..., there are rules to making a good cup of tea," she said as she went out the front door.

She knew her mother meant well, but she didn't want to explain again why she chose these extracurricular activities for work. Her mother didn't quite understand what a coveted position her daughter had. If you could last with Helena G. Wells as your boss, you could write your ticket.

'_Sounds like you're running with those bulls in Spain_,' her father said when she came home exhausted, but happy she made it through another day.

Eileen was number 8 in a succession of women who cracked under the pressure. She promised herself she wouldn't go down easy. Every day she renewed that promise on the way into Manhattan …..and on the way home to Brooklyn. She walked the two blocks of small one family homes in Bayridge from her house to her Aunt's house.

"All right darlin'," the woman said in her thick Irish brogue. "Now last week, I told you about the steepin'. How did you do with that?"

"She didn't like it," Eileen confessed.

"How didja know?" the woman asked seriously.

Scientist collecting data on an experiment were less serious than Rose Sullivan was about making the perfect cup of tea.

"Well, let's see," Eileen said thinking back to the number of mornings. "Monday, she brought the entire cup out to my desk and placed it down, without a word. Tuesday, she looked at it and asked me to take it back. Wednesday, she asked me to taste it and then refused it. Thursday, Ms. Wells said it didn't _look_ hot enough…," Eileen relayed.

"_Wells_? What sort of a name is that?" the Aunt asked.

"She's English," Eileen explained.

"Oh darlin'- now I got it. Why didn'tcha say this in the first place. I was teachin' ya how to make a cuppa tea for an Irishman. OK, we'll start over," her Aunt assured her.

"Over?" Eileen asked because she was starting to think maybe her mother was right – no matter what she did, there would be no pleasing her boss.

An hour later, Rose had adjusted her techniques to brew the perfect cup of tea …for an Englishman.

"They're a bit more straight up," she explained to Eileen. "So the tea has to be."

"I hope this is right," Eileen said after the lesson. "Nothing throws this woman like a bad cup of tea."

* * *

"Any breaches?" Claudia whispered into her phone in her apartment as she spoke with the IT guy on duty at night.

"I swear to God, Claudia, if I come out of this bathroom and you're checking on your damn firewall, I am going to hide your IPad and phone," Steve threatened from the inner room.

"I'm not!" Claudia yelled shoving her phone in her bag.

"You're lying," Steve yelled out.

"_Damn, how does he do that_?" his friend wondered. His accuracy at guessing when she was really lying was uncanny.

"You need help," Steve announced from the bathroom door because he knew what she was doing.

"I know, I know," Claudia conceded. She took it so personally when Helena managed to breach the firewall.

"Come here," Steve said giving his overworked friend a big hug.

* * *

Sam smiled uncomfortably and looked at his watch. _Where the hell did they go_, he wondered? He would have been happy if Myka gave her boss a piece of her mind, after all she did upset Myka. Sam smiled to himself to think of Myka with her finger in Helena's face, standing up for herself. Then a thought crossed his mind. Myka wasn't very experienced in the art of confrontation. Suppose she messed things up, really got herself fired? Suppose her mouthing off was detrimental?

_Oh Myka was mouthing off alright._

* * *

Upon arrival, Helena had taken a minute to introduce Pete to one of the youngest, more eligible women in attendance that night. Kelly Davenport was from the Connecticut Davenport's, a family so wealthy their occupation was just trying to keep track of their money. Helena didn't like them – and not only because they purposely hired English help because – as they told Helena – 'your_ people just sound better with everything'. _Kelly was happy to make Pete's acquaintance given that there weren't too many young people her age at these events. It took Pete a little while, but even he was getting uncomfortable with how young Kelly was. When he mentioned this to Helena when he went to check up on her, Helena looked at him quizzically.

'She's like half my age,' he whispered to Helena with a mixture of concern and intrigue.

"Mr. Lattimer, I've had enough of my employees' morality conflicts for one day. I cannot sympathize, for if dating people half my age was an issue, I'd never go out," Helena said and then laughed at her inside joke.

Pete went back to Kelly, but by the time the Mayor and Helena had made their appearance on the dance floor, something was gnawing at Pete. As he sat across from Kelly at a little table, he was certain something was wrong – terribly wrong. He shot up from his seat in search of his boss, certain she was in danger.

* * *

At the time, the only _danger_ Helena was in was the inability to breathe. '_Brain requires oxygen_,' her brain yelled at her, but she wasn't about to disturb the kiss she had surrendered to – even if it meant passing out.

Myka finally released her and Helena didn't open her eyes for fear of awakening from the dream she must be in. As motionless as Helena was, Myka was animated.

"No! No! No!…..," Myka said as she put her hand to her forehead and started to pace the room. She was only slightly _less_ surprised by the action as Helena was.

On the way to the room, Myka was trying to decide which thing to say to her boss first. All the time she walked behind Helena, she inhaled that perfume and watched her walk. All of a sudden she felt like she wasn't following as much as chasing. When she heard Helena speak – _that voice, that accent_ – she knew she wouldn't be able to stay angry so she wanted to make her stop talking. And then - - her body flew at Helena, afraid it would miss its chance to touch – feel – taste – what it had longed for all day.

"No, this is not …how can I..?" Myka struggled with herself.

"Darling, perhaps we should just ….," Helena said, finally opening her eyes. Helena was not a woman who believed in living with regrets. She had only a few, but enough to swear she'd never collect another.

"Stop!" Myka said and Helena recoiled. "Stop doing that," Myka instructed.

"Stop doing... what?" Helena asked sincerely.

"That …that smoldering eyes thing...that deep voice thing with that accent," Myka blurted out suddenly feeling the red flush rising from her chest to her neck to her face. She was waving her finger at Helena's head now. 

"I cannot help it if my eyes are ablaze, Myka," Helena said slowly, her tone dripping in seduction. "They tend to do that when they see something they truly like." Helena's tone was so cool that it made Myka pull back. She could almost feel the web she had walked into. 

"Sit!" Myka said pulling back and pointing to a chair. "Sit down," she said to her boss sternly.

Now under normal circumstances, this is not a conversation Helena would have found herself participating in. No one spoke to Helena this way. In spite of the '_excuse me_?' look that was waiting to tear across Helena's face, the Brit lowered her eyes and bowed her head slightly and sat down. She could tell how tentative Myka was.

Myka's mind raced as she walked the short distance of the room back and forth.

"I can't …. I mean we can't… there's Sam. He loves me, Helena! I can't go with …. I never wanted…..," Myka said, and Helena smiled politely wishing she could complete just one of those thoughts.

"Darling, perhaps you and I could _just_….," Helena started, but was cut off.

"What Helena? What? You and I could _…. Just_ walk out of here and what? Tell Sam, oh sorry Sam I _just_ discovered I am working my way up the corporate ladder by sleeping with my boss. Or what? We could _just_ ask Sam for the key to the room he has for our romantic evening and we could _just_ give into our lust, Helena? And you could_ just_ ignite that fire I felt this morning and I would explode from the heat? Is that what you mean?" Myka yelled with anger and confusion and passion.

Not a word of it was missed on Helena.

"I meant – perhaps you and I could just – _talk_," Helena said, but her expression said she liked Myka's suggestions a whole lot better. A-whole-lot-better-indeed.

Now it was clear to Myka that she had said all those things and Helena had not checked off one as the answer she as going to give – so that meant they were all of Myka's choices.

"Oh God," Myka said putting her hands up to her face.

Helena felt sorry for Myka – that this was such a conflict and was causing her discomfort. Helena came up with a dozen ways she could release that discomfort and some of them didn't even involve ripping Myka's dress off. Helena remembered the way Myka had pleaded for her to touch her – she knew she could make that happen again easily.

"Myka, just let me….," Helena said as she got up from the chair slowly. Slow was going to be the operative word with Myka and Helena knew it. Helena started to move closer and Myka was letting her. Helena saw the resistance waiver – the slightest bit – and was about to take another step closer when there was a knock at the door.

The sound of the light tap was enough to bring Myka back and she put her finger out to halt her boss from advancing. Helena was simply going to kill whoever was at the door.

"Pete!" Myka said - and Helena was sorry to be losing such a good body guard.

Pete wasn't sure why Myka was so happy to see him, but he knew instantly Helena wasn't. "Boss, I just thought something was ….," he started and his throat got dry.

Now the mood was broken and Myka needed to figure something out before the feeling that was burning up inside her went away. She knew what she felt was real – and she was feeling it because of Helena.

"Keep her here," Myka ordered Pete and pulled him into the room further and left.

Pete turned slowly to look at Helena who was breathing like she had just done the marathon.

"She…ha…wants me to keep…ha …..you," Pete said nervously as Helena glared at him.

"Oh no! Absolutely not! Not _three_ times, Ms. Bering. Absolutely not!" Helena said and stood right in front of Pete.

"She went that way," he said knowing he had better get out of the way.

"Boss, you lipstick …is all …smeared," Pete called after Helena as she quickly exited.


	18. The Kiss Off

Pete was busy trying to put together what he was seeing when he realized Helena was storming out of the room, seconds behind Myka. He decided he owed Myka one – for telling her that she was going to the restaurant that Helena chose when she was going to fire people. Helena never fired anyone at a restaurant – she would have had to be socializing with her staff to do that – and Helena rarely dined with her employees. No, that little tidbit of information was planted _by_ _request_.

Pete pulled out the cell phone and pressed the button that had been tampered with by their resident junior IT genius.

"Speak to me, Pete," the image of his friend on the phone said.

"Doors to the ballroom at Waldorf, can you lock them?" he asked.

"Not all at once, but simultaneously maybe," Claudia said as she tapped away.

She had come up with this idea to help Pete in his duties. He was after all, only one guy and Helena was a handful. She had the grids and schematics to any place Helena went with all the escape routes marked for Pete. "I'm in the Helena Matrix," he said and he wasn't far off. With a few keystrokes, Claudia could control the security systems of most buildings in New York. She could change traffic lights on a good day, but only at night so as not to be found out. Now as her boss flew to get Myka, door after door that she pulled at to get back into the Grand Ballroom was locked. Fury grew in her eyes as she looked at Pete to do something, but he shrugged his shoulders.

* * *

Myka had made it inside the large room in time to see Sam standing in the middle of it. He had finally gotten away from the vote seeking politician.  
Sam saw Myka walking – no _marching_ toward him. '_What the hell_?' he thought to himself as she came in closer. '_What was all over her mouth?_'

"There's my Bunny," he greeted her.

"Oh shut up, Sam," was the last greeting he expected, but got.

Myka kept up her pace as she grabbed his hand and spun him around to follow her. She needed a modicum of privacy. When they were close enough to the wall, but away from the crowd, she stopped.

"Kiss me," she said with her hands on her hips.

"What?" Sam asked. He understood her words, but not her demeanor. He searched for something that might explain what she wanted.

"Kiss me! Go ahead. Like you haven't seen me in weeks. Kiss me," Myka instructed.

"Myka, I don't think…," Sam started.

"If you don't kiss me right this minute….," Myka said.

Sam snapped into action. He pulled Myka in closer and pressed his hand on her back, tilted his head and placed his lips on hers. The only think Myka noticed …..was the familiar scent of Chanel.

'_Oh my God, she danced with him so she could leave her fragrance on him_,' Myka thought …..and was-absolutely-correct.

"Do it again," Myka instructed trying to forget the perfume.

"Myka…," he tried.

"Sam!" she said with urgency.

He grabbed her harder, leaned in faster, and pressed his lips onto Myka's mouth while holding her hands and pulling her closer. He released her gently. And waited – he wasn't sure for what, but he waited. Myka cast her eyes down, searching for the feelings that had just erupted in her when she was inside with Helena. Her heartbeat didn't change; she felt nothing anywhere else in her body, no surges of electricity. This was in fact …..what she always felt with Sam's kisses.

"Sam, one more time – please," Myka said and Sam started to get the feeling he was being graded.

"What the hell is going on, Bunny?" he asked.

"Sam please," Myka said putting her hand on his arm.

'_Must be PMS-ing_,' Sam thought as he took a deep breath and locked lips a third time. This time Myka didn't notice the Chanel. She tried to rub the roughness of his five o'clock shadow and pull him into her. She couldn't help but notice the differences though – no ache – anywhere in her body; he didn't bit her lower lip and send her body into a heated frenzy.

* * *

"Must be three kisses for a quarter night," Pete said uncomfortably as he and Helena watched. She had found an opened door and Pete figured he had given Myka as much time as he could. He wasn't sure what she needed it for, but given the state of his boss, he figured it couldn't hurt.

He wanted to ask his boss why they were staring at her Chief Counsel kissing her boyfriend, but Helena's body language is what really confused him. She stood there with her weight on one foot, arms crossed, and head lowered with her eyes locked on the couple. It was her smile that looked the most familiar to Pete. Yes, he had seen that look. It was Helena's victory look – like when she pulled the rug out from under a major bio-mechanical company that was on the verge of releasing its new product for diabetes, and Wells Corp beat them by a month.

_How did she win this_? Pete wondered, but didn't dare ask.

Helena could not help herself. She was an astute observer of human behavior and it took her seconds to understand what was happening, or more accurately, what was _not_ happening. Helena saw Sam confused perhaps, but trying his hardest to comply with Myka's requests. She watched as the man attempted three times to ignite what Helena knew Myka felt before – in one kiss. It wasn't going to happen and Helena knew it. If there was a chance that it could, it wouldn't have taken three tries. Now Helena knew it and soon Myka would be sure too.

Helena indeed, had scored the more precious of the works of art that night, and she could hardly contain her joy.

* * *

Sam saw Myka's expression and then he caught sight of their voyeur.

"Are you okay? Did you get fired? Bunny, it's okay. You can come back with me," he offered.

"Don't take this the wrong way Sam, but you're an idiot," Myka said.

"Because of the kiss?" he asked stunned.

"No, not because of that. You tried your best, I know that, and I appreciate it. I can't explain it yet," Myka said realizing this still left a lot of unanswered questions.

"Then why?" Sam asked.

"Because after all this time, you still don't know me, Sam. After all the time together, you still only know the version of me you want," Myka said with a mixture of sadness and frustration.

"But Bunny," Sam said.

"I'm not Bunny, Sam! I'm Myka! Now go back to Washington, Sam. I need time," Myka implored.

Myka caught sight of Helena. Helena glanced away, so as not to appear as happy as she was. She knew it was only a matter of time before Myka caught on that Sam was not good enough for her. She was happy it was so soon. It would clear the way for .....

"And you!" Myka said turning to face Helena.

"Oh oh," Pete said knowing this was more than one body guard could handle.

"Darling I,…" Helena started unable to suppress how pleased she was.

This was never a contest to Helena. She heard Myka ask her to touch her, she felt Myka's kiss.

For Helena, this was Sam's exit interview.

"Don't you _darling_ me," Myka said in a tone that caught everyone's attention, but the most surprised was Helena. "I know what you did, Helena. From the minute you met me, I became a pawn in your scheme to get things done your way. And when you weren't sure if the Midwesterner would play along, you gave me a gift that in reality was there to do your work. Then you made sure I knew I could be fired at any moment, just to watch me do all these things under pressure. And then, because I managed to get through those hoops, you got me drunk and tried to seduce me!" Myka said and now Sam and Pete locked eyes.

You would think this yelling and revealing intimate details would embarrass the accused, but it did not. It bothered Helena that Myka was so perturbed by her actions and that is why she had apologized to her.

"I did do those things, Myka, but I had no time to waste to see if you could get the jobs done. I may have tested your skills, but you performed beautifully. I would think you'd take that as a real credit to your talents," Helena said.

Sam was still processing all of this.

"Helena, if you wanted to test my skills, you could have waited to see how I handled the TV show and the harassment suit. You could have given me at least 24 hours to see if I could perform. What you did was underhanded," Myka said, arms crossed and standing in front of her boss.

Helena went to speak – to point out she had apologized, but Myka stopped her –again.

"I can't explain all the rest, Helena, but I know I don't like being used," Myka said and turned to Sam. "Go back to Washington, Sam. I'll call you soon. I just need time. You have to give me that, Sam," Myka said and walked away.

"Myka!" Sam called out.

"Please Sam, do this one thing for me," Myka said, tears welling up in her eyes. She hurried out the door, leaving the three of them watching her go.

Sam couldn't figure out where this was coming from. This was not his mild-mannered, understanding girlfriend. Something... or someone... had done something to cause this. It didn't take him long to catch a glimpse of the expression on Helena's face.

"You! What did you do to her? Did you fire her?" he said.

"More like fired her up," Helena said under her breath as she went after Myka. "Let me speak with her," she said to the confused suitor.

Pete put his hand out to hold Sam back. "Let her try," he suggested.

* * *

Helena caught up with Myka outside and called for her to stop.

"Myka, aren't you tired of placating people? Putting the men in your life ahead of yourself? Bering _and Sons_? You don't even have brothers! And Sam? Could you have found a _more_ domineering lover?" Helena tried to point out.

"Only if I had stayed longer this morning, Helena," Myka said and turned and raced down the stairs.  
  



	19. Power Play

Helena stopped in her tracks; Myka's words had hit their target dead center.

"Domin….? You think.. I... am?" Helena stammered and looked like the proverbial deer in headlights.

Myka's expression confirmed that she said exactly what she meant to say. "Where were you when they were teaching people how to get along? What did they have you locked up somewhere?" Myka asked and had no idea how much those words would sting.

This would have been the moment Helena yelled out in frustration and tore into her opponent. This was not a business deal though, even if Helena thought the same rules should apply. So Helena took a deep breath and swallowed her pride – _again._

"Myka, tell me how I can fix this. _Surely_ there is but a _simple_ solution?" Helena asked sincerely.

Her tone gave Myka pause because it sounded heartfelt. Giving in was easy for Myka, it was what she did all the time. Then she remembered what the last twenty-four hours had been like for her. She had been manipulated, lied to, played, and dismissed. She shook her head and gave a soft chuckle to think she almost fell for it again.

"Sure, I'll tell you Helena," Myka said turning to her suitor.

'OK then,' Helena thought waiting for the solution to this puzzle that was Myka. Her hands were placed squarely on her hips, as she waited for the answer.

"Go find yourself a _time machine,_ Helena. Then go back to _yesterday_ when we met and this time around – don't manipulate, intimidate, dismiss or use me! How's that Helena? Simple enough for you?" Myka said and stormed out of the hotel into a cab - leaving Helena speechless - again.

"Where is she?" Sam asked Helena.

Helena was deep in thought, Myka words still smarting.

"I fear Myka has left us, Mr. Martino. Perhaps to do some much-needed soul-searching," Helena said.

"That's ridiculous," Sam said and started to leave. Helena put her hand on his arm and much to everyone's surprise, it was gentle.

"Give her tonight to sort things out, Sam. She's had a very rough day and I must admit, I believe I had something to do with that," Helena said and Pete immediately mouthed– '_something?' _

Helena was the last person Sam would trust for advice. After all, no one knew Bunny the way he did. He frowned at Helena, but didn't say anything. He left the hotel in pursuit of his girlfriend.

"Take me home, Pete," Helena said.

It was after a few minutes of silence in the car before Helena spoke. "I will admit, Mr. Lattimer, I can put business deals together with much less effort than it takes to _please_ that woman," she said out of frustration to her consigliere.

Pete looked in the rear view mirror and nearly got clipped by a taxi. He swerved just in time to miss it, but in doing so, tossed his passenger to the side.

"Do not kill me, Mr. Lattimer. I fear you will be out of job if you do," Helena said.

"Sorry boss …it's just….," Pete said and then thought maybe he should just watch the road.

Helena detested hesitancy.

"Mr. Lattimer, if you have something to say – say it. I do not appreciate feeling that people are too intimidated to speak their minds with me. I do not bite," Helena said and meant most of it.

'_Yeah right_,' Pete said under his breath.

"Say again? I believe you might have caused some hearing impairment on that effort not to kill us," his boss commented.

"I'm just a little surprised that that's what you think you were doing," Pete said, waiting for the laser look to appear in the mirror.

"Surely you jest, Mr. Lattimer. I took her to dinner, I took her into my home when she was drunk, I stayed with her until the morning, I saw to it that her imbecile of a boyfriend got home safely, I allowed her to bring Mr. Sykes into my office. I – _even_ – _apologized_ tonight," Helena replied and she sounded just like the Mayor listing the reasons he should be reelected.

"And I allowed her to throw some very harsh words my way," she added to seal the deal.

Pete knew he was in uncharted waters. When people told Helena Wells what they really thought, it was usually their last appearance. And as insane as his job was, he liked it. He also liked Myka. She was one of those people you meet for a short time and know she's a good person. He wasn't sure who he was saying this for, but he was going to say it.

"Boss – nobody likes to be played," Pete said and grabbed the steering wheel with both hands. He was almost certain Helena's bellowing could make the air bags go off.

'_Was everyone going to share their bloody opinions today_?' Helena wondered. _First Mrs. Frederic, then Myka, now Pete. _

"I just think it would have gone better for you if you had been nicer to her….. from the start," Pete said sincerely.

There was silence while Helena processed that suggestion. "From... the... start," she repeated as they reached their destination.

Pete expected to hear he was fired, but instead Helena thanked him and got out.

"You okay, boss?" he yelled through the opened window.

"Couldn't be better, Mr. Lattimer. And thank you for your sage advice," Helena yelled as she ran up the step into her home.

"Thanks for letting me live," Pete said as he drove home. He pressed the button on his steering wheel to activate his phone. "_Call Artie_," he said and the car phone dialed the office manager at home.

"Hello, you've reached the residence of Arthur Nielsen. I'm not home right now…," the recording said.

"Artie, pick up, it's Pete," Pete yelled into the car speaker.

"What?" Artie said from the other end.

"Well, hello to you, too," Pete said back.

"Hello Pete. Now …what?" Artie asked slightly more civilized.

"We need a new boxing bag," Pete said remembering the state of the other one. It was hanging lifeless and empty when he went to the room downstairs before.

"So you called me at this hour to tell me that?" Artie asked annoyed.

"Well …. Yeah. I mean I think she's going to need it pronto," Pete said.

"Pete, I know you live, drink and breathe Wells Corp 24/7, but I have a life!" Artie yelled.

"Really? What were you doing when I called?" Pete asked knowing his friend well.

"I was…..I was just about to …," Artie stammered and shut the sound down on the television.

"Vanessa working the night shift has done wonders for you, Artie my man," Pete said.

"What size bag?" Artie asked not wanting to hear how boring his life was with his girlfriend working nights at New York University Hospital.

* * *

Helena closed the door behind her, threw off her high heels, and went up to her bedroom where she quickly changed into pants and a long sleeved blouse. She was about to rush out when she realized there was something she needed to do. She sat down at her desk, took out a piece of fine stationary embossed with her name at the top.

"_Dear Myka_…," she wrote and followed it with her thoughts. She reread it once, folded the paper, and placed it into an envelope with Myka's name on it. She brought it with her as she went to the end of the hallway and pressed in the code to gain entrance to the room. The door opened and Helena could feel the cold air of the rarely accessed room on her face. The smell reminded her of her library back home filled with books from floor to ceiling. Helena put the light on and gazed upon the object that was dead center in the room. She ran her hand along the armrest of one of the two opposing chairs. The base of the contraption was very large and the bay window on the room had to be removed when she had it transported there. She was not supposed to have taken it, but she felt she was entitled to it since it was after all, hers.

Helena had used it only once since she had been released from the Bronze Sector in a facility out in South Dakota. It seemed that the current people in charge had need of her services and so the higher-ups commissioned her release. Ripped from the solitude, Helena was requested to use her time machine to allow two present day agents to gain access of the consciousness of two agents in the past. Helena didn't ask the details, she simply used her machine to allow it to happen. They were so pleased with the results, that the decision makers granted her full pardon and release. They had no resources to help her other than to give Helena a new identity if she wanted it and access to her accrued money. They explained as nicely as they could that although she thought these items were her belongings and technically they were, once she was bronzed as an agent, everything became property of the facility. Helena disagreed. She stayed and played nice enough until she could figure out a way to remove the few items she wanted – a necklace, some books, and her machine. Even if they accessed their rudimentary inventory software system, Helena had tampered with it to show that nothing was missing. And she worked nights to build a non-functioning machine that looked just like the real one.

Helena left South Dakota with her belongings and never looked back. She had used her new name only once.

Then she found her way to New York and created her new world.

* * *

Helena knew the limitations of what she was about to do. She would send her mind back – to intersect with herself – but with new information. This time – Helena would not fight the feelings she had when she saw Myka. This time, she would not be so afraid to admit that she liked Myka, even knowing how much it would hurt if she left. '_She left anyway, you bloody fool_,' Helena said to herself as she checked the connections on the machine. Helena spent months accessing the power grids of New York and reprogramming the circuits in case she ever needed the extra power. She turned the dials to the desired time.

Then she sat down, placed the connections on her head and took the remote in her hand.

* * *

Myka knew that Sam would follow her. She wasn't sure about Helena. Either way, she didn't want to be found. She knew Sam would go to her apartment so she went to her office. Even if Helena came there, she might buy herself some time. After all, Myka had work to finish before she left. She greeted the night guard and went up to her office. She was happy to see all the flowers were gone.

Myka went to her desk and started composing her letter. She reread it once and signed it, and then placed it in an envelope and wrote Helena's name on it. She took the documents and went upstairs to Helena's office. She placed all three items down on Eileen's desk with a note asking her to give them to Helena when she arrived.

Then Myka went to a coffee shop near her apartment and waited until Sam accepted she wasn't there and left in a cab. Myka set out to pack what few things she had unpacked and made a plane reservation for the next morning. She sat down on the couch and looked around.

'_New York preys on nice people like you,_' her mother warned her.

"Maybe not New York," Myka said as she closed her eyes, "…just Helena Wells."

* * *

Eileen was busy in her kitchen perfecting the lessons her Aunt shared when the room went dark except for the blue flame on the gas stove.

"Dad! The fuse blew again," she yelled to her father who had fallen asleep on the couch. A minute later a beam of light shot into the room as her mother entered with a flashlight.

"It isn't just us, sweetie. Look outside. The whole block is out," her mother explained.

Eileen grabbed her phone and checked to see if it worked. "Oh thank God," she said because darkness was nothing compared to being cut off from texting.

"Mom, it's all of Brooklyn," she said as she checked the news on her phone.

"Now what the heck could have caused that, I wonder," her mother said shutting off the stove.

"Can you imagine if they trace the outage to the one guy who turned on his tiny little air conditioner tonight and blew us all out? Eileen laughed.

Eileen was right. The Con Edison Electrical Company had found the source of the drainage on the system, but it wasn't in Brooklyn.

They traced it to a townhouse on Central Park West in Manhattan.


	20. Second Chances

Helena closed her eyes after setting the machine in motion. Unlike the agents in South Dakota, this was _not_ her first ride. She knew what to expect and she was well aware of the limitations and consequences.

Helena had one objective – go back to yesterday and be kind to Myka. She had reduced it to its simplest form.

The noise seemed louder to Helena, but then again, she was in a relatively small space compared to the last residence of the machine. She worried for a moment it was not working, but then she saw the familiar bright white lights that signaled her consciousness melding into yesterday. The machine was on autopilot, set to return at a specific time. Helena felt the chair come slowly to a halt. She knew she was in a different place because the air was so different from the library she had just left.

And it was colder. Much, much colder.

The bright lights thinned and Helena watched as Myka came into her office. She had made it!

"Ms. Wells, I tried to stop her," her young assistant explained standing in the doorway behind Myka.

This was Helena's chance to make everything right.

"It's okay Eileen," Helena said smiling. "There was a mix-up in my schedule, Ms. Bering. I do apologize. Won't you come in?" Helena said standing up and shaking Myka's hand. She was off to a good start.

"Thank you," Myka said to her new boss.

"Eileen, would you get Ms. Bering a refreshment, please?" Helena asked nicely. "Please sit down," she said to Myka and they sat near each other in chairs at a coffee table.

"Ms. Wells, I just want to say what a pleasure it is to work here," Myka said truthfully.

"Myka, the pleasure is all mine. I welcome such an experienced person as you. I'm sure you'll do just fine here," Helena said and took in how calm Myka appeared. She wasn't certain she had seen Myka smile like that.

"I've got a couple of ideas on how to handle the television contract and the Mr. Sykes situation," Myka said taking out papers.

When she did, Helena saw the pen that Claudia had given her. She had to take it back.

"Oh great, I'd love to hear them," Helena said and saw how Myka's face brightened up because her boss was allowing her to do what she did best.

Helena listened – for the first time to what Myka was proposing and it was not only good, it was sound planning.

"So I will see Mr. Sykes today and go over everything," Myka said and started to put her papers away. "Thank you for taking the time to see me. I know you must be very busy," Myka said as she got up.

Helena was desperate. She needed that pen back. All of this being nice would not count if Myka still felt she was being used.

"I need your pen," Helena blurted out.

"Excuse me?" Myka said smiling, but confused.

"Your pen, I need it please," Helena said and put her hand out. _She wanted that pen. _

"You want my pen?" Myka asked and started to put her hand in her bag to retrieve it. "May I ask why?"

"I …we're not using those pens anymore," Helena announced. Her hand remained stretched out for it.

"I'm sorry Helena, I can't give it to you," Myka said and Helena looked at the expression on Myka's face. She already knew why she wanted it back. Myka started to leave.

"What?" Helena yelled. "Perhaps I didn't make myself clear. I wasn't _asking_ you for the pen," Helena said and realized she had to do it differently. _'Differently_,' she said over and over in her head.

But Myka was still walking out of her office.

"No please, Myka, please. Listen to me, I'm sorry. I can explain, Myka, please. Please give me a second chance," Helena said as the machine ripped her out of that room for her return trip.

* * *

"How is she Doctor Calder?" Pete asked as he paced the floor in the emergency room.

"Who is _Myka?_" the doctor asked him.

"Her chief counsel. Her friend," Pete said hoping that was true.

"You better call her to come," Vanessa said and put her hand on Pete's shoulder.

* * *

Myka's phone went off and she figured it was Sam trying to get her. "Go away," she said turning over on the couch, exhausted and shutting her phone off.

* * *

"Mrs. Frederic? It's Pete. You have to come here to the hospital. It's Helena, Mrs. Frederic. Something bad happened," Pete said frantically.

He looked down at the envelope that the fireman had given him. It was crumpled now and the ink had smeared on the front. He called Claudia and then Artie.

* * *

"She's in good hands, Pete," Artie tried to comfort him. Pete was inconsolable – he felt responsible for leaving Helena alone after dropping her off.

"I didn't sense anything, Mrs. Frederic. I swear to you, I didn't sense anything was wrong, if I did, I wouldn't have left her…," Pete said holding onto the older woman when she came.

"I know you wouldn't have, Pete, I know," Irene said to him as he fought back tears.

"Sonovabitch, I had no idea how much she means to me," he said trying to make himself laugh.

"Have you gotten in touch with Ms. Bering?" Mrs. Frederic asked when she saw the envelope with her name on it.

"There's no answer. I don't even know where she is because her boyfriend called before saying she wasn't at her apartment," Pete said wiping the moisture from his eye.

"Holy crap! What the frack is going on?" Claudia said making her noisy appearance in the waiting room.

They filled her in with what little they knew.

* * *

The black out in Brooklyn sent the Con Edison guys on a search to find the source of the power drain. They quickly assessed that it was coming from Manhattan and that's when they located the cause. Firemen were dispatched to the scene because it was assumed that much power might be highly explosive. Smoke emanating from a second story window sent them crashing through the door and up into the room. It took them awhile to get in, but once they did, they found Helena strapped into a chair and unresponsive. The ambulance brought her to the ER, where Doctor Calder was amazed that although her vitals were all good, she appeared to be in a coma like state. Helena was ungracefully placed on a gurney with bright lights over her head as Doctor Calder performed CPR when she was first brought in. Nothing seemed to work.

* * *

"Let's have this messengered down to her apartment. She's got to go back there sometime," Artie said and put the private note in an envelope and had a messenger service pick it up and deliver it to Myka's apartment.

Dr. Calder assured them she would keep them informed and went back to check on her patient. What the good doctor did not understand was that Helena did not want to be revived – she was on the other side fighting like hell to stay there because she believed with her heart she was on the verge of accomplishing what she set out to do.

In fact, Helena never traveled back in time. The machine went haywire and spun her into an unconscious state. The only place she traveled to was the Emergency Room, and the only one who didn't know it, was the Time Traveler.

* * *

Finally, Helena woke up – in the emergency room – and quickly figured out what happened.

And then ….._all hell broke loose. _

The Wells Corp staff members that had gathered in the small waiting room heard the loud noise of yelling and metal hitting the floor. Nurses were yelling for help and above it all came the distinctive call of '_bloody hell'_ several times.

"They are bloody mad," Helena yelled when she saw the employees gathered in the room. "Get them the bloody hell away from me," she demanded walking in- clad in only a hospital gown. "They are insane," she said looking to see if they were following her. They were.

"Helena, uhm ….Helena," Claudia said to her boss who apparently had no notion of how hospital gowns worked.

"What do they use in England," Mrs. Frederic wondered out loud.

"OK you can forgo my raise this year," Pete said staring at the perfectly formed derriere that was fully exposed.

Claudia was the only one who could move, so she slid up next to her boss and brought the curtain down on the best show Pete and Artie had seen all year.

"What the bloody hell is going on? Where am I?" Helena shouted giving her location away.

Doctor Calder arrived with the army of nurses. "Helena, we need you to return with us," she said and had no idea how terrifying being restrained was for Helena. She had awoken and thought she was still strapped to the chair – straps she knew very well how to unleash. They certainly weren't attached to the vein in her arm. Helena ripped the IV out, the cardio patches off and made her escape. Helena felt the unfamiliar apparatus attached to her and panicked.

"Madam, hell will freeze over before I join you again," Helena said in her most indignant voice.

Vanessa looked at Artie for support. '_Oh this is a great place to be caught_,' he said to himself. He pushed his hands out in front of him indicating this was 'hands off' as far as he was concerned.

"We can sedate you if you rather," Vanessa said and didn't realize this was like throwing lighting fluid to the fire. No one quite understood how sedation was interpreted by someone who had been immobilized all those years.

"I will bloody hell take your head off. I will go to my office, get a check, buy this entire hospital, and then I will come back here personally to fire the bloody lot of you," Helena yelled.

Only Mrs. Frederic noticed how frightened her boss sounded. Everyone else was too busy – well, being frightened.

"I think we can take care of this if you'll give us a minute, Doctor Calder," Irene said in her calming voice. She stepped in between Helena and the doctor. "Are you concerned for her health?" she asked the doctor.

"She was unresponsive before, but seems to have snapped out of it. I would like to check her vitals," Vanessa said.

"Send someone in to do that then," Irene said and turned to Helena. "They just want to make sure you're okay, Helena, before they bring your clothes and release you," she said and got her to sit still long enough so that they could take her blood pressure and listen to her heart.

"I think she should see a neurologist," Vanessa said to Artie.

"I think you really mean is a _psychologist_," he said back to his girlfriend.

Helena waited patiently while they brought her clothes back to her. "What the hell were you doing?" Artie asked his boss.

"Trying to undo my egregious mistake, Arthur," she said to him. "I should have known better," Helena said sadly as she walked out.

* * *

Myka woke up to the buzzer ringing in her apartment. "God Sam, please just leave me alone," she yelled as she looked through the peephole. It wasn't Sam.

"Special delivery for Ms. Bering," the doorman said on the other side. Myka knew him and opened the door, in spite of the hour. She thanked him and went inside. There were only two kinds of papers that were ever delivered in the middle of the night –subpoenas and termination letters. Helena was either finally firing her or suing her for breach of contract.

"Ha!" Myka said thinking it was the latter. "Won't you be surprised, you crazy woman," Myka said of her own letter lying in wait for Helena. "Think I'm going to take your money because I have a year contract? Think again, Helena," Myka said as she opened the letter.

She slipped the lilac colored folder sheet out of the envelope and opened it slowly. The stationary was not Wells Corp, but Helena's own. Myka smelled the damn _Chanel _perfume as soon as she opened it and pulled it up to her nose before reading a word and inhaled. Anger melted as the perfume reminded her of being so close to Helena.

Myka sat down on the couch. She looked at the wrinkled condition of the outside of the letter and the eloquently graceful writing that filled the page.

_Dear Myka, _

_If you are reading this letter, then I have failed in my mission to undo the past. I have set a course to retrieve my harsh words, and replace them with what I was really feeling when we met. In spite of my gift for language, I cannot yet explain how my entire being has been captured by your presence. With my deepest sorrows, I apologize for how I mistreated you. You would not understand me if I explained why and there truly is no excuse for such behavior. _

_If you are reading this Myka, it means I will not get the chance to tell you in person that I have known a great many people in my time, but none can hold a candle to the goodness that emanates from your heart and soul. We have known each other for the shortest amount of time, and yet, I will carry your presence with me forever. That my heart could be so touched, is a testament to all that you are Myka Bering. _

_With affection always,_

_Helena_

Myka folded the letter back. She wasn't sure she understood what Helena meant other than she was trying to apologize. If only Helena had spoken so eloquently to her when they met.

Myka put the letter in her bag and got ready to catch her early morning flight.

She wasn't sure what Helena meant, but she was certain now, it would take her a long time to get over her.


	21. A Lesson in Semantics

It had been a very long night for the staff of Wells Corp and they finally deposited Helena at her second residence; a penthouse in midtown. Then, Pete drove everyone else back to their respective homes.

"I fear the worst is yet to come," Mrs. Frederic said to the group as they sat in the large car.

"Oh yeah, like why did she hijack Brooklyn's power grid? What was the contraption in her house? What exactly was she thinking? The Fire Department will want to meet with her, not to mention Homeland Security, oh and Police Commissioner Kelly has called twice," Artie huffed.

"Yes they will have to be dealt with," Irene said even though it wasn't what she meant. "Damage control tomorrow, people," she said as she bade them goodnight.

* * *

Helena wanted to go back to the Townhouse on Central Park West uptown, but as far as the New York officials were concerned, it was a crime scene under investigation, and she was not allowed in. She had asked Pete about the letter and he told her they had it sent to Myka. It was not exactly what Helena planned, but it would be proof to Myka that she was doing everything in her power to make amends. Helena would ask to see Myka first thing in the morning and she would explain all of this to her.

Except the part about time travel. She would wait to explain that.

As Helena arose a few hours later, she dressed in one of her favorite _Diane von Furstenberg_ dresses with the leopard print and high collar. She donned her Urbanog black stilettos and pushed her hair in place. If only the world cooperated with her as nicely as her hair did. Helena moved with an air of confidence as she rode with Pete to the office.

"Mrs. Frederic says she told everyone that you were trying out a new machine to help in the aid of back problems and '_borrowed_' the juice without realizing it was from the City's own grid. So far, they're buying it," Pete updated Helena.

"Excellent," Helena said.

She was about to ask Pete to call ahead and have Myka meet her in her office, but this was the _new_ _enlightened_ Helena. She was going to do things differently. She would wait until Myka arrived and then go to her office. She had finally figured it out and felt very much relieved.

* * *

Myka knew that Sam was in the City and she felt she owed it to him to at least call and give what little explanation she had. He had spent the night in the lonely suite at the Waldorf, trying to figure out what had gone wrong …..so quickly. The only reason for Myka's strange behavior had to be because of the pressure she was under at work. She was going to have to see it wasn't working out for her in New York, and there was nothing to be ashamed about. She could always _come home._

That was exactly where Myka was headed.

She grabbed her phone and dialed him quickly and asked to meet him at the coffee shop on 35th and Second Avenue. "We need to talk," she said and Sam was happy to hear she was open to what he had to say. She shoved the phone back in her bag and took the taxi uptown. She had one large bag with everything she needed. She packed up everything else and would contact a moving service to handle the rest. It would seem to the careful observer that Myka hadn't really ever moved into her apartment – not for the long haul anyway.

As Helena made her way downtown to her office, Myka was sitting in a booth looking out onto Second Avenue with Sam.

"You're completely confused," he told her when she said she needed time and was going home.

"I actually feel pretty clear about this, Sam," Myka said back over the black coffee that neither of them bothered to pour milk in.

"Myka, how could you make such a rash decision? I understand if you want to quit that hell job with that bitch," he said and Myka leaned across the table.

"Don't say that!" Myka said and wasn't quite sure where it came from.

"You see? You defend anyone, Myka. Come to Washington and set up practice there," Sam said thinking that would get through to her.

"Sam, it's not just the job. I have to think about everything, about us, about me, about why my father's sign says _Bering & Sons_, Sam, all of it," Myka said with feeling.

"Don't you think it would be better for you to do all that thinking with me there?" Sam said worried Myka wasn't seeing the bigger picture.

"No, I don't. I need to do this on my own, and for me, Sam," Myka said and started to get her bag.

"So what? You want me to wait? You want me to call you every night to remind you that this isn't a good idea?" Sam said starting to lose patience with what he thought was pure unadulterated nonsense.

"No Sam, I don't. I truly have no idea where this is going to take me. And it's not fair of me to ask you to wait," Myka said truthfully.

"Bunny, please," Sam said getting that this was Myka saying goodbye. "I love you!"

Myka smiled at the words and her heart ached to see him in pain now. She had been on the receiving end of terminations enough to know how badly they puncture.

"I love you, too, Sam. I can't explain yet why that's not enough. I wish it were, Sam, but the truth is – it isn't and I'm sorry," Myka said sincerely.

She got up and bent down and kissed him on the cheek and walked out of the diner ….and out of Sam's life.

Myka wasn't proud of it, but she threw up in the trash container on the side street where no one saw. She hailed a cab and told him to take her to JFK International Airport.

"Here on business?" the driver asked her.

"Yes," Myka said looking out the window at the Empire State Building as they turned away and headed to Queens through the Midtown Tunnel.

"Get in enough sights?" he asked.

"Yes, I've seen enough," Myka said as the car darkened when they entered the passageway and sped along to the airport.

* * *

Wells Corp was brimming with renewed hope that morning.

Eileen felt confident that today would mark the day she brought her boss a cup of tea, perfectly prepared. Artie bit down on his donut, confident that Vanessa would forgive him when the bouquet of roses arrived at her door for not stopping his boss from signing herself out of the hospital last night. Claudia was overjoyed with the fact that she had figured out the plausible schematics that would convince Homeland Security that Helena thought she was upgrading her electricity when she '_accidentally'_ found an opening in Con Ed's firewall. Mrs. Frederic was certain she had found the perfect housekeeper for Helena even though she protested furiously that she did not want anyone in her house. The young woman, by the name of Leena possessed all the necessary skills to run a house, but what put her over the top were the psychology courses she had taken in college. Irene thought those would come in handy. Pete arrived at work confident - because that is _always_ how Pete arrived.

None however, could match the buoyancy of Helena's gait. Certain she had the right approach to take with Myka now; she entered the building with the friendliest demeanor any of her staff had ever seen.

"Good morning, Eileen," Helena greeted the young assistant who did a double take to see who had entered her boss' office. Eileen scampered to pour the tea that had been steeping just the way her Aunt had showed her. She put in on the tray and brought the three items that she found on her desk when she arrived.

"Good morning, Ms. Wells," Eileen greeted her boss and put the tray down. She gingerly took the cup of Earl Grey tea and placed it in front of Helena. This was usually the time Helena ignored the gesture completely or looked down at the liquid and back at Eileen, her signal to take it away. Instead, today Helena took the cup in hand and sipped on it.

"This is very good, Eileen. Thank you," Helena said to a stunned, but smiling executive assistant.

"I'm glad you like it," Eileen beamed.

"Are those for me?" Helena smiled looking at the papers on the tray out of reach.

"What? Oh yes, I'm sorry," Eileen refocused and handed the three items to Helena. "They're from Ms. Bering,"

"Thank you," Helena said and Eileen started to leave. Helena took another sip of her tea; perfectly brewed and at the perfect temperature.

"This is _really_ very good," she complimented her employee again.

Eileen went directly to her desk where she called her Aunt to share the good news.

* * *

Helena opened the first envelope that contained the contract for the new television show. Everything that Helena had stimulated was in there and at twice the payment. That couldn't have been easy to negotiate in such a short period of time, Helena thought. Then she opened the other larger envelope and found the signed papers from Walter Sykes accepting the terms of his severance package and resignation. A pang of guilt rose in Helena's chest as she remembered again how foolish she was to treat Myka like that. She was a perfectly qualified lawyer, and Helena's actions jeopardized all of that. Thankfully, she thought, she had seen the error of her ways and was turning things around.

Then she opened the third item, the letter from Myka.

_Dear Ms. Wells,_

_It is with regret that I find it necessary to tender my resignation from Wells Corp, effective immediately. In the short time I have been here, I have had a wonderful experience with the work and the staff. However, I find that Wells Corp environment does not suit my needs at this time. _

_I have completed and enclosed the paperwork for the issues assigned to me. I trust you will find them satisfactory since they are both to your specifications. If there is any issue with either, please have my replacement contact me and I will give them whatever information I have. I have also amended my employment contract releasing Wells Corp of any further salary commitments. _

_I wish you and the entire staff of Wells Corp the very best in all of your future endeavors. _

_I want to thank Wells Corp for hiring me and trusting that I could do the job. I only wish you could have done the same, Ms. Wells. _

_Sincerely,_

_Myka O. Bering_

The only sound in Helena's office was the sound of the cup rattling as she placed it back in the saucer from her hand shaking. She read the letter again – and turned it over – as if the explanation would be on the back. She called Eileen – not over the phone, but right through the door and the young woman shot up like a bullet and went to her boss.

"Eileen – where –how did you- this letter," Helena stammered. Eileen had never seen her boss unclear before.

"They were on my desk with a note from Ms. Bering asking me to give them to you when you came in," Eileen explained.

"Is she here?" Helena asked still a little taken aback.

"I'll find out," Eileen said and ran to her desk. The woman who sat outside Myka's desk told Eileen that when she arrived this morning, there was a thank you note on her desk from her former boss, thanking her for all that she had done.

"I think she quit," the woman said to Eileen who decided she did not want to be the messenger on that update. There wasn't enough tea in the world to recover from that, so she called in her reinforcement.

Helena swung open the door, impatient to find out. "Is she there?" she asked and Eileen lost what little color she had in her face.

"No," she squeaked.

"Where the bloody hell could she be?" Helena truly wondered. "Call her apartment. Ask Pete to drive there if necessary," Helena instructed calmly and returned to her office.

This was not what Helena had planned for. She was going to make her apologies – _AGAIN_ – in person. Myka would see how sincere she was and forgive her. Then they would start anew, Helena aware that Myka would need time to take in the personal side of their relationship. In Helena's mind, she was doing everything right this time and could not fathom that Myka would not be willing to give her that chance.

Eileen tried to get Pete on the cell, but his voicemail kept picking up. That's because he was on the phone with Myka. She had finally looked at the missed phone calls and messages that she assumed were from Sam. She was on the plane when her phone fell out of her bag and she had picked it up.

"Pete? It's Myka. My phone was off. I just saw your messages to call. Is Helena okay?" Myka asked wondering if she would be able to push the oncoming passengers out of her way if she needed to go back up the aisle and exit the plane.

"HI Myka! Yeah sorry for all those messages and stuff. She's fine now. She was doing some kind of experiment at her house last night in some freaky machine and it knocked her unconscious, and they rushed her to the ER, but she's good. She's upstairs now. Are you at your apartment?" Pete asked in his chipper voice.

"Pete, no I'm not. I'm ….," Myka said and felt her throat start to constrict. People were pushing to get to their seats because it was time for takeoff. "Thanks for everything, Pete," Myka said and closed her phone.

A mother with a screaming toddler was making her way down the aisle and stood in front of Myka waiting for her to get up. This was going to be the longest plane ride of her life.

"Myka? Ms. Bering?" Pete shouted into the phone thinking they were cut off. "Holy crap, holy crap," he said walking in circles because he knew Myka was saying goodbye to him. He ran outside and right into Mrs. Frederic.

"Ms. Bering is …," he said to the HR Director.

"I know, I'm on my way up there now," Irene said entering the elevator.

"What do we do?" Pete asked frantically.

"Brace for impact, Mr. Lattimer, brace for impact," the Sage said as the door closed.

* * *

When Irene walked off the elevator on the 17th floor, Eileen was waiting for her. "She's looking for Ms. Bering and I don't think she's here. The doorman said she left this morning and said she would have movers come for her things and I can't tell her that," Eileen whispered and wiggled back and forth, keeping one eye on the door. Irene was certain that if Helena appeared, the young girl would faint.

"I'll see what I can do," Mrs. Frederic said walking Eileen back to her desk.

Irene knocked and entered Helena's office. Her boss seemed incredibly calm.

"Helena?" Irene asked to make sure she was okay. Maybe that trip on her version of _Mr. Toad's Wild Ride_ left some residual effects.

"I don't understand," Helena said to her aide-de-camp.

"What don't you understand?" Irene asked sitting in the chair in front of Helena's desk. She noticed the opened letter on the desk. "May I?" she asked and Helena pushed it to her.

"She resigned!" Helena said truly confused by the gesture.

"Yes, indeed she did," the HR Director said, closing the letter and putting it back.

"She can't do that," Helena finally said. "She can't quit! Quitting is ….beneath her. I was going to make amends with her," Helena said.

"Actually, she can quit Helena," Irene said gently.

"Where is she? She has to hear what I have to say," Helena said rising from her chair.

Irene looked down at her phone. Claudia was tracing the call that came into Pete and was going to text her the location. Irene read the text from the Senior Teckie.

"She's on a flight out of JFK to Colorado Springs," Irene said and Helena fell back in her chair.

"She _left_?" Helena said more distraught now. "What the bloody hell would make that woman quit and fly to Colorado?" Helena asked Irene.

"Helena," her confidant started slowly. "You have a certain way of dealing with people, Helena. I believe much of what you do is out of habit," the Sage analyzed.

None of this made sense to Helena, but she was feeling desperate.

"What do I do?" Helena asked, truly out of ideas.

"Well if you can't tell Ms. Bering what you are thinking because she is not here, I think you might want to go…..," Irene paused.

"To her!" Helena completed. "Yes, make arrangements for me to go to Colorado Springs. I will meet with her and explain everything," Helena said.

Irene nodded and got up to leave.

"Could I offer you some advice for your next meeting, Helena?" Irene asked, but Helena knew she was going to tell her not matter what she said.

"Much of your behavior I have noticed can best be described as a '_knee-jerk_' reaction to things," Irene said trying to get her boss to understand her imprudent manner.

"And?" Helena asked.

"Might I suggest when you see Ms. Bering, there be… more _knee,_ Helena….and less _jerk_," Mrs. Frederic said closing the door on a very perplexed Helena.

Helena stared squarely at her older friend and wondered if she had any notion of what she had just suggested. 

"I'll take that under advisement," Helena agreed, certain the woman had no idea. 


	22. It Takes a Village

As soon as Mrs. Frederic told Eileen to make the travel arrangements for Helena, the young woman snapped into action.

"Will Ms. Wells take her private jet?" Eileen asked ready to get them on standby.

"No, that will be too fast," Irene said thinking. "We need some time, and so does Ms. Wells. Book her on a late commercial flight – we'll make an excuse. We don't want her arriving on Ms. Bering's heels. Book her a room in a hotel as far away from the location of _Bering & Sons_ bookstore. My sense is that Helena will go there to find Ms. Bering," Irene said.

"Kind of romantic, isn't it?" Eileen said dreamily.

"What is?" Irene asked texting the only people who could help Helena through this.

"Ms. Wells – dropping everything to go after the person she's infatuated with?" the executive assistant said looking up at the ceiling.

"What makes you say that?" Irene asked, smiling at how perceptive this twenty something was already.

"Love makes you do crazy things, Mrs. Frederic. And she's been acting crazy since Ms. Bering barged through that door," Eileen said and went about making the reservation.

"Indeed," Irene mused.

* * *

"Talk to me people, whata we got?" Claudia said as she sat with the others at the impromptu meeting Mrs. Frederic called.

"Late flight to Colorado Springs, room at the Four Seasons forty miles away from Bering & Sons," Artie read from Eileen's message.

"Forty miles? Won't she notice hotels a little closer than that?" Pete asked.

"She will, but we'll tell her none of them have a... tea barista," Irene said.

"You just made that up, didn't you?" Pete said trying to give her a high five, but was met with a dead stare.

"They exist. Maybe not readily," Irene confessed. 

"How much damage are we assuming?" Claudia asked as she looked at the map.

"You know who we're talking about right?" Pete asked.

"Maximum damage," Claudia decided. "Maybe Pete should go with her; you know to slow her down if we need to."

"Not a bad idea, Ms. Donovan," the senior member of the group said.

"The things I do for this job," Pete said. "Well if I have to go, I think Claud should go for tech purposes. We might need a traffic light changed," he pointed out and Mrs. Frederic agreed.

"Yeah, but suppose Ms. Bering won't see her?" Artie asked.

"I got that taken care of, Arthur. Ms. Donovan located the inventory of the bookstore on line and Helena is going to make a purchase and pick it up," Irene explained.

"And when she sees the person's name is _Helena Wells _who is picking up a package, she won't leave?" Pete said poking a hole in the plan.

"Good point, Mr. Lattimer. I'll use her _other_ name," Irene said because every person who has celebrity status needs an alias.

"What else?" Artie asked.

"Well, I have her phone locked in so I can change any information that she tries to access, even change incoming and outgoing texts," Claudia said smiling at how devious that plan was. The she felt everyone's eyes on her. "No, not that I would do that," she tried to convince them.

"The objective is to help Helena not screw this up again," Irene pointed out.

"How will we know where Ms. Bering is?" Artie asked because that seemed to be a point no one brought up.

Irene smiled because she had no doubt _someone_ had that figured out. "I may have locked onto her phone this morning after Pete got the phone call," Claudia said.

"Mrs. F, you got the florists on standby in case we need flowers, candy and anything else that says "_I'm terribly sorry, but I'm British and I tend to do things my way_'?" the youth asked in a British accent and made them all laugh.

"Yes and the theater tickets for Mr. and Mrs. Bering will be delivered tomorrow as well. That way, no one will be in the store except Myka," Irene said.

"We're forgetting one thing," Pete said seriously.

"What could we have forgotten?" Artie asked looking down the list of things. Everything seemed covered.

"Who's going to coach her ..on how to ….uhm…. play nice? Cause so far, she's messed it up every time on her own," Pete pointed out.

"He's got a point," Irene said.

"Oh I know! I could put little transmitters in her jewelry and when she's giving the wrong answer or saying the wrong thing, we could send a shock through to her," Claudia said and everyone just stared at her.

"You definitely have a freaky dark side, Claud," Pete said never wanting to get on the wrong side of her.

"I think we need something a little more subtle, Ms. Donovan," Irene said and gave this some thought.

"I can coach her," Pete said and Claudia burst out laughing. "Hey!" Pete said insulted. "I get around okay with the ladies. I can give her a couple of pointers."

"Well given the suddenness of this event and the fact that you will be with her, I say we have no other choice but to allow Mr. Lattimer to …_coach _…Ms. Wells," Irene said.

"Operation _Bering & Wells_ is underway then," Artie said.

"I really think it should be _Wells & Bering_," Pete said. "Remember when they did that Father of Science Fiction thing at the New York Public Library and Verne's name was first? She lost it," he reminded them.

"Operation _Wells and Bering_ it is then," Claudia said.

"I want code names," Pete called out as the meeting broke.

"We don't have time for code names," Artie snapped at him.

"You could be '_Grumpy-cause-I-ain't-getting-any-since-my-girlfriend's-working-nights_," Pete said and ran.

* * *

Helena paced her office as she waited for Eileen to make the arrangements. "Where is my jet again?" Helena asked because there should be a helicopter on the roof now taking her to the airport.

"Oh, it's in…..," Eileen stuttered. Irene really should have given her the script. "…. For repairs. That part that was missing – is still missing," she said and breathed a sigh of relief when Helena seemed to buy it.

Helena was thinking about something else entirely. She thought back to the previous night and the time machine. She was in such a haste to set things straight, she hadn't done a complete check. Now that she thought back about it, something seemed to be missing. The bang on the door interrupted Helena's reexamination.

"The earliest I could get you on was the 6 PM flight out of JFK," Eileen said.

"How long a flight?" Helena asked.

"Three and a half hours," Eileen said.

"Where am I staying?" Helena asked.

"The Four Seasons," Eileen reported.

"How far would you say that is from Ms. Bering's parent's bookstore?" Helena asked.

"Thirty eight and three quarter miles," Eileen answered.

"How did you...?" Helena started to wonder, but the assistant bolted out of the room.

The thought that the whole plan would fall apart if she slipped, made Eileen nauseous.

* * *

Myka spent the flight being polite and trying to sleep until she could no longer ignore the toddler to her right. Myka talked to the little girl who took an immediate liking to her. She landed and rented a car for the drive to her parents. She didn't have time to tell them she was coming and she was putting off all the questions that were sure to be asked.

Myka felt defeated – how could she have been so naïve as to not see what her boss was doing? It wasn't that she couldn't take the heat, but she wouldn't take the games. She kept thinking that she should have felt nothing but anger at Helena, and yet there was something else. Everything was mixed up, she thought. She should have felt relief after leaving Helena and sad when she walked away from Sam.

Somehow, it was the opposite and Myka needed time to figure out why.

* * *

Myka arrived and was at her parents' store by noon and they were thrilled to see her. "What a nice surprise!" Jeanne yelled when her older daughter appeared in the shop.

"Where's Sam?" her father asked and Myka told him Sam couldn't make this trip.

Her mother sensed right away that something was wrong, but didn't press Myka for the detail.

They had a leisurely lunch together – mostly because there were no customers ringing the bell at the register for service.

"We're good though," her father assured her, but Myka knew that was a lie.

"People don't want to buy books anymore. Everything is e-lec-tron-ic," Jeanne said sarcastically.

"Except rare editions. Those are doing pretty well," her father said.

It had been Myka's idea to include a few of them in the store's inventory and told her parents to think of it as an investment. One that could have lost money in if it hadn't been for Myka's instincts and an upturn in the market for autographed copies of books.

* * *

Myka wasted no time in helping out in the bookstore after lunch and when people inquired why she was back, she told them she was on vacation.

"You left New York City to come back to Colorado?" more than one patron asked. "It's the center of the universe."

"Not everyone would agree with that," Myka said.

She wanted to appreciate the beauty and quiet of her hometown, but it would take some time to erase the excitement that came with being in New York.

"What are you doing back here?" her mother finally asked her as they were cleaning up books in the back.

"Need a break, Mom," Myka answered truthfully.

"Not from Sam, Myka? Don't tell me you broke up?" Jeanne said worried.

"I'm taking a break from everything, Mom. I need to find some answers before I decided what to do," Myka said unpacking some books.

"Answers. Ha – if you wait for answers Myka, life will pass you by. He's a good man, sweetie. It will be hard to find someone better than Sam," Jeanne said.

Myka looked down in her hand and there lie a copy of _The Time Traveler_ by HG Wells. _Isn't that ironic,_ Myka thought as she carried the books out to the science fiction section.

She was walking to the back of the store when she remembered her favorite item in the whole collection. It was a first edition of _War of the Worlds_. What made it so rare was that it was autographed by the author himself. Myka's father used to read a copy of that book to her when she was a child and so it held fond memories for her. It was one of the few things they did together.

The original book was priced at over one thousand dollars and as much as Myka wanted someone to buy it so her parents could get their profit, she secretly loved having it in the store. After the store would close, Myka would sneak down at night and read story from the rare artifact. _To think HG Wells had held it in his hands while he signed it_, Myka often thought. _So brilliant! _

Myka rounded the aisle and saw the special display case she had purchased second hand to hold the book. A smile came across her face as she walked up to it like an old friend, and found out - it was empty!

"MOM?" she yelled to Jeanne.

"What is it Myka?" her mother asked as she came running, certain her daughter had fallen from the pain in her voice.

"Mom?" Myka said pointing to the empty case, unable to speak.

"Oh gee, Myka, you gosh darn nearly gave me a heart attack. I thought something was wrong!" Jeanne said.

"Where is it?" Myka said annoyed that her mother didn't see the issue at hand.

"Where is what?" Warren asked now interrupting them.

"Dad! Where is the first edition signed copy of _War of the Worlds_?" Myka spelled out for them.

"Oh for crying out loud, Myka. It's in the front of the store," her father said dismissing the urgency of the situation.

"Oh thank God," Myka said, unable to tolerate any more annoying things happening.

"Someone just phoned in before and bought it. They're picking it up tomorrow," Warren said leaving his wife to deal with the emotional Myka.

"Mom, I can buy that book now," Myka was sorry she hadn't made that the first thing she told them up on her return.

"Don't be silly, Myka. That book cost a lot of money," Jeanne said.

* * *

"Do you think she'll like it?" Pete asked Claudia after purchasing the book over the phone.

"She'll love it! The guy who answered said it was her favorite book. So Helena can buy it and then give it to her. Brilliant, eh?" Claudia said proud of her skills.

"Yeah now we just have to teach her how to be less abrasive,"Pete said thinking out loud.

* * *

Helena took clothes from her apartment next to her office and an overnight bag. She was ready by noontime even though her flight wasn't for hours.

Helena thought buying the book was a good idea. She thought back to how long ago it was that she would have signed it. Charles had wanted to be responsible for the signing of the book, but Helena wouldn't allow it. She knew the books might just make it into a time when the world would find it believable that a woman had thought up those ideas – and actually built them.

The time... was now.

As Helena looked out her office window smiling at how happy Myka would be when she presented her with the book, Myka was more than a thousand miles away secretly hoping the person who bought it, would never make it to the bookstore to pick up with item.


	23. Flying Coach

The challenge for Irene was not to convince Helena that Pete and Claudia should go with her. After all, she needed someone to drive her to the bookstore. Claudia could help with everything else – which would prove to be a challenge because Helena and she had different interpretations of what that meant. To Claudia it meant helping her boss if there was an email glitch or explaining why you should wait to buy the I Phone 10 with the newer ones coming out. To Helena it meant '_at my beckon call'_.

"How do you propose to impart this wisdom?" Irene asked Pete, and added; " I would suggest subtly, of course."

"Subtly of course," said the man who thought yelling _'wassup'_ in a meeting was refined. But his heart was in the right place and he was, in a Pete sort of way, very charming with the ladies.

"Aha," the HR Director responded. "I hope they both come back alive," she said of her fellow staff members.

Helena shared none of Irene's anxiety about this trip. In the Brit's mind, the fact that she was going should impress Myka enough. Then to present her with a gift, not to mention her innate charm that wooed many a lover, would only bolster her chances.

* * *

"AARRGH!" was all Myka could say in response to her parents and she stomped upstairs before she said something she might regret.

"Does she seem a little moodier to you since she came back from New York?" her mother asked.

"More than usual? No, that's just Myka," Warren said. "What did she say about Sam?"

"Said she needs a break from everything," Jeanne shared.

"Oh that's not good. A guy like that won't wait forever. We're gonna have to talk some sense into her," her father lamented.

Myka knew her response was childish. It was only a book and surely there were others out there- maybe. She flopped down on her bed, exhausted from the morning in New York and the afternoon with her parents. _Why was it that no one understood what she wanted? _That book meant a lot to her, not just because it was so rare, but because it reminded her of a time when her father focused in on just her. Was she being selfish for wanting the thing that reminded her of that?

When her father would finish the chapter and say goodnight, Myka would imagine what it would be like to sit in her room with the author and talk about the parts she liked and the parts she had questions about. She was at a slumber party when she was in 7th grade and the topic finally got to who the girls would like to meet in person. Myka seriously couldn't think of anyone else – and admitted it was HG Wells. She could still remember how the room seemed to fill with laughter and how more than one girl said; "_Oh Myka, you're so weird_!" She never admitted to that fantasy again.

Myka decided she would give herself a few minutes and then put on her happy face and go back downstairs. She pulled out her phone and looked at it. Nothing. No texts from Sam which surprised her.

She told herself she was happy there wasn't anything from work – but the disappointment stung a little that not one of them checked to see how she was doing. "Not like they were my friends," Myka said out loud as she wiped a tear away. "I hardly know those people," she added trying to convince herself.

She was thinking of Pete and Claudia – but she really meant Helena.

* * *

Helena was at the airport along with her entourage.

Pete had been rehearsing how to gently broach the subject with his boss. _"So speaking of trying to dig yourself out of a hole,' 'So you treated someone like crap and now you want to try and be friends' and 'Listen, you came to the right place. I'm like one stop shopping on how to win over women,'_ were just some of the opening lines he considered.

"Is he okay?" Helena asked Claudia when she noticed the facial expressions on her bodyguard.

"Define _okay_," Claudia said with a straight face.

The boarding started and no one had planned on Helena's interest in the flying machine. She had written about them – envisioned what they could do – around the time the Wright Brothers were making their first successful flight. To fast forward to jumbo jets was a sheer adrenaline rush for her. One of the reasons she agreed to have her own plane was so she would explore the machine and talk to the pilot about everything. Flying lessons was on her to do list, once she got things taken care of on the ground. Commercial airlines no longer welcomed passenger's curiosities and, in fact, are suspicious of them. Claudia assured them this was _Helena G. Wells_, the CEO and socialite who was asking why she could not visit the cockpit. The flight attendants recognized her and smiled, but ask the undercover air marshal to move his seat closer to First Class – just in case.

"She's like a kid in Disney World," Pete said of his boss who marveled at takeoff and could hardly sit down. How tempting it was for Helena to say to them all, "_You don't understand. I wrote about this before it happened. I invented a rocket _…..," but she knew she couldn't.

Pete fell asleep on takeoff, Claudia composed a text to Steve about her hasty leaving, and how it wasn't because she was obsessed with work. Maybe fibbing in text would deter the human lie detector machine.

Helena gazed out the window high above the clouds. She was glad that she was going to see Myka again so soon. She understood why Myka was upset, but perplexed as to how she could run home.

"Have we given any thought to the boyfriend showing up at the same time?" Claudia said to Pete when he woke up.

"Ah…no," Pete said.

Claudia jumped into action by using her phone that was under a blanket. "What? It doesn't really interfere with the instruments. They just say that," she assured Pete. A minute later she said with confidence; "No, he's still in DC. What? I may have placed a tracking code on his phone when you guys were all at the Waldorf from Myka's phone," she said to Pete.

Sam was indeed in Washington. He had taken an earlier flight home, still stunned by what had transpired. Maybe a little time away from him would help Myka realize her mistake. He didn't mind giving her time to think things over, but she didn't sound too optimistic about their future_. How could that be?_ Sam couldn't figure it out. He and Myka got along so well, liked the same things, and wanted a lot of the same things. He supported her when she made the decision to go to New York, even though she didn't talk about it before.

Sam knew what he had done right, and there was no doubt in his mind Myka would see that. She just needed time.

Helena knew what she had done wrong, and there was no doubt in her mind, Myka would forgive her. It was just a matter of time, and Myka had had enough time.

Helena could admit that she was controlling sometimes, but usually it ended with positive results – the business deal was made, the love interest became her lover, the lover left when she was bored, the staff did as she asked. Why did Myka have such a hard time with the way she did things? Whatever the reason, Helena was willing to travel the 1635 miles to get Myka to understand.

Hours later, when the captain announced they were starting their descent, Helena turned to her staff members and said the agenda was to get the car and drive directly to the bookstore.

Claudia looked at Pete. Their plan was for her to go to the bookstore tomorrow. They needed time. There were going to have to be some delays. "You better start your coaching coach, in case I can't figure out how to stop all the traffic lights from the hotel to the bookstore," Claudia whispered to Pete.

"On it!" he said and got up to sit in the empty seat next to Helena. "How ya doin' boss," Pete said smiling, but his eyes were darting all over the place.

"Well, thank you, Mr. Lattimer, and you?" Helena asked friendly.

"Good, good. So listen, I thought maybe it would help seeing how you're going to see Ms. Bering and all, that maybe just maybe I could give you a pointer or two on how to handle the situation," Pete said not looking at her until he was done.

"You? Offer me? Advice?" Helena burst out laughing. "Oh that is sweet, Mr. Lattimer, really very sweet." Helena genuinely appreciated it – but also thought it was ridiculous. _Why doesn't he just offer the pilot a flying lesson while he's at it?_ she thought.

"No, I'm serious," Pete said lowering his voice.

"Darling, I do appreciate your effort and I know it comes from the right place in your heart, but I simply am not in need of _any_ advice," Helena said calmly touching his knee.

This was not what Pete planned. Irene had said okay – she didn't say what to do if Helena refused.

"Uhm I think you could do with a little guidance," Pete said.

Now Helena was losing patience. "Mr. Lattimer, I do beg your pardon, but I know a thing or two about people. I have no doubt that I possess the skills necessary to help Ms. Bering see the error of her ways," Helena said and now Pete was convinced more than ever she needed his help.

Pete really liked his boss, but he adored Irene Frederic. She was entrusting him to help Helena and that was what he was going to do – if it killed him. Sitting across from black steely eyes that glared at him made him think it might just take that. Maybe he would wait until she was restrained by a seat belt.

Claudia listened to the exchange and knew it was a matter of time before Pete was charred by her boss' sharp retorts. She was too busy trying to come up with a plan to delay the plane. The FAA did not take kindly to people messing with their aircrafts and Claudia did not want to do any prison time. This was going to have to come from a higher power.

"_Time difference not enough,_" she texted Irene even though it was against the rules. "_She wants to see her tonight." _

"_Stall her_," Irene texted back.

"_Really?"_ Claudia responded sarcastically.

"_Yes,_" Irene replied, missing it.

"I've got to stop talking to people over 30," Claudia said to herself.

* * *

Myka pulled herself together, fearing she was spending too much time giving into self-pity and went back downstairs. She hoped her parents didn't barrage her with questions about why she was so upset – and unfortunately, they didn't.

Dinner was quiet that night as Myka didn't have the energy to ask questions. She helped her mother do the dishes and while they sat down to watch television, Myka went out for a walk.

"Take a jacket sweetie, it gets chilly," Jeanne told her. Myka instinctively picked up the jacket as she went outside. The street where the store and their apartment above it resided was empty now. Stores were closed and everyone was home. Myka walked to the end of the block and headed west – toward the park that surrounded the lake.

Myka admitted that the pain in her chest had softened only a little since she left New York, but convinced herself it would get better over time. _But what if it didn't? What if she had made a mistake with Sam and he really was her one shot at marriage and kids and the white picket fence? Why couldn't she make that work? Why did she have to be so stubborn?_ As hard as she tried, Myka couldn't keep the negative questions at bay.

_And what the hell happened to her with Helena? How did her feelings betray her like that?_ It was as if they disconnected from her brain and did what they wanted. She had never felt anything like that, and even now as she remembered that, she looked around to see if anyone could tell what she was feeling. There in the emptiness of the park, Myka sat down and grabbed her knees up to her chest.

She had to forget New York.

She had to forget Helena - period.

* * *

"No, I just checked, the store is closed boss," Claudia said to Helena with a straight face.

"Well find her parents' number. Perhaps they can tell us where she is," her boss instructed.

"Unlisted," Claudia lied.

"Well, hack something please," Helena said getting impatient.

Helena allowed them to drive to the hotel to check in, but when they were done; her one track mind was back.

She wanted to see Myka – period.

"I have to say boss, barging into the store is not the best idea. Why not wait until tomorrow, so that you can go in and get that book you ordered and then you'll have your chance with her," Pete said in the hotel lobby.

Helena was running out of patience with her staff that seemed to be getting in her way, instead of helping her.

"Please listen to me carefully. I need to get to Ms. Bering's place – _now._ I see no reason to wait until tomorrow when I can go now and talk to her. Can you give me one good reason why I should wait until tomorrow? Helena asked staring her staff down.

"Ahhhh…uhhhh…well ….," Claudia stammered.

Helena turned with the same hard look at Pete. _He had a job to do. _He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Then he remembered how Irene told him - _to be subtle._

Helena had made her point and done it well, so she started to walk away. Claudia looked at Pete as if to say – '_do something!'_

Pete stepped away from her and yelled at his boss;

"You screwed up everything with Myka. You bullied her, played her, and were just down right mean to her. When you tried to fix it, you screwed it up worse. So _that_ is why you have to wait until tomorrow so we can set the stage and help you as much as possible!" Pete said with zeal and then stepped behind Claudia for protection.

Helena turned back slowly to face her bodyguard. "Are you insane?" Helena asked back, her hands on her hips defiantly.

"Boss…," Pete said and there was a long silence. "…She quit and left," he pointed out.

In spite of how ridiculous it sounded to Helena, she did listen. Perhaps – _just_ _perhaps_ – she needed some – a _small_ amount of help. Helena took a deep breath because she was not used to conceding.

"And the store is closed and we don't know where she is, boss," Claudia added.

"OK, Mr. Lattimer, Ms. Donovan – I will accept your offer of help," she said and her entourage relaxed and smiled. "And God help you both if anything goes wrong," she added and they grabbed each other as their boss went to her room.

They updated Irene who reminded them not to assume their boss would stay put. Pete took of residence outside his boss's room. It turned out Helena didn't leave that night and slept peacefully – confident she could make everything right once she saw Myka.

* * *

Myka walked back when she was sure her parents had gone to bed. She got ready herself and laid down in her bed, the moon shining through her window and casting a light into her room. Myka looked at her desk – the light shining off of the note Helena had left for her.

Then something struck Myka suddenly. She jumped up and grabbed the letter. She looked at the elegant script and stared at the signature at the bottom of the page. Myka's eidetic memory recalled the signature in the book and she could compare the letters to the words in this note.

Myka would have to tell the buyer tomorrow it wasn't an original as they had said it was - it was a forgery at best. Her crazy former boss must have been signing old copies of her ancestor's books.

_But why would she do that?_ Myka wondered. She regretted that she would never get the chance to ask Helena that question. Myka loved that book.

Now Helena had ruined _that_ for Myka, too.


	24. Let Me See Beneath Your Beautiful

When Pete woke up the next morning, there was his boss standing in the door way – a vision in purple and black.

"You want me to take advice from a man who can't find his way to his own hotel room?" Helena asked, her tongue as sharp as her outfit.

"No, I mean, yes," Pete said sliding back up the wall to stand. He didn't want to tell his boss he was there for a reason. "I was really tired," he tried.

"Aha. Please do freshen up, Mr. Lattimer, and then get Ms. Donovan and meet me for breakfast. I am interested in seeing what a _tea barista_ actual does," Helena said moving past him to the elevator.

Pete waited until Helena waved goodbye or was it get going, and then he pounded on Claudia's door. "I hope you have a tea barista downstairs for real – or this won't be a good start to our day," he said.

Claudia was not worried. She had slipped the appropriate amount to bribe the right people into agreeing their highly trained '_tea barista'_ was on duty and ready to bring her the tea. In fact, it was one of the kitchen's staff who happened to be English and understood the importance of brewing the tea correctly. Pete showed and shaved quickly and joined Claudia to go meet their boss. She was in fact, smiling as she sipped the tea in the dining room.

* * *

Claudia looked at her well-dressed her boss was and then down at what she was wearing and became very self-conscious.

"How far a drive is it?" Helena asked taking a small bite of a scone.

"Forty minutes at most," Pete said, and the laid out what he thought was the best plan. "There's a coffee shop across the street. We'll wait there until her parents leave for the matinee and lunch and then you can go over and '_do your thang,'_" Pete said.

"I wanted to 'do my... thang'- as you so incorrectly stated last night, but deferred to your wishes to conduct this event today," Helena pointed out.

"Yes, and I think it would be good to go over what …we...," Pete said pointing to himself and Claudia, " …have observed."

"Do tell, Mr. Lattimer, do tell," Helena said slowly.

"Yeah, okay so Myka Bering quit her job after – you know – what _you_ did. Then she came home – to here – so that makes us think she's trying to think things out. So we don't think it would be a good idea to pressure her in anyway," Pete said and braced himself.

"OK," Helena agreed. "No pressure."

"You get fifteen minutes in the store," Pete said and both women said – "_What_?"

"Yeah – if you can't get her to agree to something in fifteen, we need to regroup and you need to back off," Pete said. Helena narrowed her eyes but didn't say anything.

"I cannot believe I am agreeing to this," Helena said and only said that to act like she was. She didn't think she needed the advice, but she did admit Myka wasn't responding to her the way people she pursued usually did. "Fine, fine, fine," Helena said and instructed Pete to get the car. "Excellent barista," she said to the dining room manager who winked at Claudia.

* * *

Myka wasn't going to mention the forgery to her parents. They were going off to a luncheon and matinée and would be gone most of the day. She would explain to the buyer that there was a mistake, and then put the money in an envelope so her parents would be none the wiser. She had decided she ignore the fact that it was a counterfeit and keep the book in her room after buying it. It was still a first edition. Her parents were getting ready upstairs and Myka was busy putting the order that came in that morning away.

She had no way of knowing she was across the street from the woman she had dreams of strangling for ruining her book.

* * *

Main Street was busy with shoppers and patrons, but none dressed to the nines like the woman who sat in the booth with her staff. Dressed in a black stretch jersey dress with a bateau neckline that hugged her toned body, Helena stared at Pete as he tried to suggest strategies. Long shapely legs wrapped around each other and ended in black pump shoes that added three inches to her frame. The waitress could not help herself and actually touched Helena's deep purple Ralph Lauren Kayden jacket sleeve. Helena slowly stared at the woman who quickly removed her hand. "It's beautiful," she said.

"Look, I think she should…..," Pete was saying to Claudia whose laptop was open as she pressed keys.

"This is ridiculous," Helena said, grabbing her matching purple soft Ricky bag and left the diner. She was halfway across the street when Pete and Claudia tried to jump up at the same time, spilling iced tea everywhere.

"The Eagle has launched!" Pete yelled into his phone to Artie.

"What eagle?" Artie asked.

"_THE _Eagle," Pete said emphatically.

"I told you, no code names," Artie yelled.

Irene took over and tried to get her fellow staff members to calm down and speak English. She assured them they had done all they could - and now, it was up to their boss.

"Oh I can't watch," Pete said staring out the window as Helena entered the store.

"How does she walk in those things?" Claudia wondered out loud.

* * *

Helena didn't remove her dark glasses as she made her way into the store. Warren and Jeanne were on their way out and the two of them stopped in their tracks. They couldn't remember seeing a better dressed woman in their store_. Made sense to them that the buyer of the expensive book would dress so well though, they thought. _

"Oh yes, Ms. Lake, I spoke to your office on the phone," Warren said.

"We're on our way out, but my daughter Myka will service you," Jeanne said.

Helena pulled her glasses down just the slightest bit and grinned ear to ear at Jeanne choice of words. "_That would be lovely_," Helena said in her faux American accent.

"_MY-KA!_ Ms. Lake is here for her book," Warren yelled and the couple walked out the door. Helena turned the sign in the door to 'Closed' certain no one would mind.

Pete had his face pressed up against the glass when he saw the Bering's leave the store.

Myka heard her father call her while she was high on the ladder, putting books away. She slowly came down the ladder, yelling "_I'll be right with you_." She had rehearsed what she would say and tried it in different tones, finally deciding on friendly.

* * *

"I am so sorry my father didn't get your phone number when you called yesterday, Ms. Lake because I could have saved you the trouble of coming all the way here," Myka was saying as she made her down the steps. "It turns out that we just found out the book is a forgery. Of course, we'll make a full refund," Myka said apologetically. "Ironically, I _actually_ know who the person is who did this…," Myka said loudly as she made her way up the aisle.

The buyer had her back to her, her arms on the counter, but even at that distance, Myka could see she looked like she just stepped out of _Vogue_ magazine. Myka hesitated, looking down at her dusty blouse and jeans. She pushed her hand through her hair to get it out of her face. Then she noticed the familiar perfume.

"…and I wish I could ask her why, but unfortunately I can't. HI, I'm Myka Bering," she said extending her hand to the woman at the counter.

Helena removed her sunglasses and put them in front of her and turned around. "Hello Myka," she said taking the hand stretched out to her. She pulled the stunned Myka in just a little, much the same way she had done with Sam the first time she met him.

"Of course you can ask me why," Helena said in her sultry voice.


	25. First Time for Everything

Helena hoped the warmth of her greeting would convey to Myka how happy she was to see her. Myka couldn't feel anything. She was expecting a stranger and stood there, mouth agape. Her heart started to pound in her chest as she tried to decide which feeling to act on. Myka was motionless as everything this woman evoked, came flying at her. She looked at those dark eyes that seemed so warm. She inhaled that damn perfume that made her knees feel weak. _How was she there, invading the one place she thought no one would find her? _

"Helena..?" Myka said trying not to let the shock show. Her throat felt like it was closing, her eyes felt as if tears were pushing to get out, and she was certain her lower lip was quivering. Myka had been putting all her energy into holding these feelings back, and now this woman's mere presence was ripping down the walls and allowing the feelings to erupt.

"_You_ can ask me _anything_ you want," Helena said again smiling sincerely.

Maybe if Myka had some warning that Helena was going to invade her home she could have prepared for this. Myka was always prepared, but she had nothing in her arsenal for the reaction to Helena standing in front of her. This woman had pushed her to the edge - figuratively and literally.

Helena remembered her instructions _not to pressure_, so she let the silence hang between them. She smiled and picked up the book on the counter.

"The book was a ruse," Helena said hoping to point out that she went to some trouble to see Myka.

The sight of the woman who had done so much to her – smiling and holding her treasured book - was the breaking point. Helena momentarily wondered what the wide eyed expression on Myka's face meant and she was about to find out. Myka finally stopped denying the hurt that was bubbling up in her chest. Then Myka did what every nerve ending in her body said to do –

She slapped Helena across the face – hard.

* * *

The overcast weather gave Pete and Claudia a better view of the inside of the store and when Myka let loose, Pete shot up from his seat and grabbed his face – as if he felt the smack. Actually, what he was feeling was conflicted. He was the woman's bodyguard - and she had just been hit.

"Holy crap!" Claudia yelled out when she saw Helena's head spin sideways from the blow. She pulled Pete back to his seat, turned her laptop to face them and suddenly he was watching a live feed inside the store.

"Whaaat? I may have placed a book on the shelf there before when I said I was going to the bathroom, but I swear Ms. Bering didn't see me," Claudia explained.

Pete just stared at her. "You need help," he said and meant it.

* * *

Helena grabbed her cheek instantly. She had never felt anything like it. Not in one hundred and forty-six years had Helena G. Wells _ever_ been slapped. Now the shock was on her face, along with the red imprint of Myka's hand.

"That is _my_ book," Myka said grabbing it back from the woman she had just assaulted.

Helena was not sure of what to do next. Her normal disposition was to allow her own anger to direct her next move, but her instinct got her into this mess.

"I know you're upset and you have every right…," she said, rubbing her cheek to sooth the wound.

"Do not tell me my rights, Helena. I know my rights," Myka said trying to keep her voice from cracking. This was years and years of Myka taking the highroad with people who had done her wrong. She had no prior experience in letting go and even as it was happening, she knew she was making a mess. But Helena's mere presence unhinged her on the deepest level and she didn't now how to deal with it. 

"Myka, I came here to …," Helena tried one more time.

"To what Helena? Further berate me? Try and confuse me more? Annoyed I beat you at your own game?" Myka said holding the book in front of her like a shield.

"Myka, it's not a game….," Helena tried with more patience than she had packed. She stepped away from the counter strategically putting a little distance between them in case of another blow.

"Don't lie to me, Helena," Myka said and started to walk towards the Brit. "You…..," Myka said and stopped. She looked at the shelf. There was a book... out-of-place.

Pete and Claudia watched in horror as Myka's hand came at them on the screen. She took the odd-looking book off the shelf and opened it in front of a curious Helena and ripped out the camera.

"Oh oh," Claudia said slipping down into the booth.

"You were _spying _on me?" Myka yelled - as she ripped the camera from the book.

"I did no such thing! I have no idea how that got there," Helena said and started to walk backwards down the aisle to keep the safe distance - although she was certain her Kenpo skills would catch the next strike. "Look, I know this is a bit awkward…," Helena said trying to smile, but when she did it hurt her cheek.

"They warned me – they said you were as tough as a polar bear on the outside and as sharp as hedgehogs on the inside, but I said no! I will just do my job and that will be that! But, you wouldn't even let me do my job!" Myka said pushing her ex-boss further back into the store.

"Who warned you?" Helena asked taking a quick look behind her to see how much distance she had. It wasn't much.

"Your puppets. The people you pull the strings on every day, that's who," Myka said. "The ones who probably set that camera up so you could make sure I was here."

"Myka, please listen to me. I came here to make amends, to apologize," Helena said thinking she better talk fast.

"And then what did you think would happen, Helena? You'd sweep me off my feet, take me upstairs, and seduce me again and we would forget everything?" Myka yelled without planning her speech.

"I thought we would …talk?" Helena said, holding back the smile that was in reaction to what Myka had just suggested on her own.

"Yes talk, go ahead Helena. Why not start with why you tracked me down, and why you bought the book? " Myka said standing there.

"I tracked you down, as you say, because I know things did not end well and it was all my fault. I tried to apologize the other night and to tell you how sorry I was for being …..…," and Myka cut her off.

"Ruthless? Underhanded? Deceiving? Controlling? Maniacal?" she offered as the fill in the word.

"Maniacal?" Helena asked. "That's a new one. Myka, I have found my methods very effective in business and in my personal life, but I don't think I ever gave much thought to them when they don't work – until I met you. You deserve better, Myka and I am sorry I didn't see that sooner," Helena said.

Helena's soft tone and sincere words threw Myka. Helena was playing nice and Myka always gave in to that. Doing so though, put her at risk for being duped _again_.

"Tell me about the book, Helena," Myka said pointedly.

"Ah, yes well the book. I wanted to purchase it and return it to you as a gift," Helena said explaining her motives.

"Why did you sign it?" Myka asked moving forward.

"What do you mean?" Helena asked.

"I compared your note to the signature in the book, Helena. I know they're the same, so why would you do that? What would possess you?" Myka asked.

"Oh Myka, I think you're …," Helena was trying to dodge this question.

"Don't lie to me, Helena," Myka said, her green eyes fixed on Helena.

Now Helena had no room – her back was up against the wall for the second time in two days.

"Myka, I can explain how that happened, but please trust me, this isn't the place nor the time," Helena pleaded.

"How did you try to undo this, Helena? What did your letter mean?" Myka went on to her next question. Another one Helena would have trouble answering.

"Well, I …tried to think of a way to rectify the past and …. Here I am," Helena said walking the fine line between not revealing too much and lying.

"Here you are – spying on me," Myka said.

"I swear to you, I have no knowledge at all about that," Helena tried.

Myka's anger was running out of steam. "I don't know what you want, Helena."

Helena remembered all the advice her staff had given her. "_Go slowly, no pressure_," Pete had advised her. "_Let Myka take the lead_," Claudia instructed her. Well, she had done those things and still was nowhere.

Then she remembered Irene's instruction; "_More knee, Helena, less jerk_." Helena wasn't entirely sure she understood the woman's advice until now. "_Yes,_" she thought.

Helena fell to her knees right in front of Myka and looked up at her.

"Myka, I have behaved terribly. I acted out of fear and that is not noble. I had feelings for you as soon as I met you. Rather than acknowledge them truthfully, I lied to you and to myself to fight off the vulnerability I felt. I pushed and pulled at you and both were unfair. I came here today to apologize and to ask your forgiveness Myka, so that we may perhaps be friends. If time is what you need, then I will wait. If space is what you need, I will go away until you have your answer. And after all of that, if your answer is still no, I will accept it, even though it will be among the hardest things I have even done, Myka," Helena said.

Myka stared down at Helena. She listened to the most heartfelt sentiment she had ever heard. Now that her anger was waning, tears filled the spaces, but she still fought them back. Myka had spent a lifetime of learning the fine art of holding back your tears until you were safely in your own bed.

"Get up," she said to Helena calmly and the Brit complied, still unsure if Myka believed her.

Standing there facing each other, Myka studied the beautiful pale skin and dark eyes. She did believe Helena was trying – no one ever had gotten on their knees before for Myka – except in her fantasies. Helena's words filled Myka's head, her perfume filled her senses.

Helena swallowed hard, waiting. If Myka was going to slap her again, Helena was going to take it like a woman. Then Myka moved in on her. She pushed Helena back against the wall hard, dropping the book so that her hands were free to hold Helena's head in place while she kissed her - hard.

Helena rejoiced at the feeling of Myka's lips on hers. Her head felt light as she pressed back gently, accepting the movement of Myka's lips. This was a good sign – a very good sign. She hoped Myka would stay there forever, but she released her.

"Now go, Helena, please," Myka said stepping back and retrieving her book.


	26. Sweet Sorrow

To say that Helena was astonished was putting it mildly. First she was slapped in the face and the sting was intense. Then she was kissed – passionately - and forgot about the sting completely. Now she was being asked to leave and the pain was everywhere. _What was going on_?

There was not a time in her recent history that Helena was not two steps ahead of her opponent. '_Are you bloody kidding me?_' was being repeated in her brain, but her heart knew she had just given her word that if Myka wanted space, she would go. She had just humbled herself by confessing and kneeling, and she was still being asked to leave. Her pride alone wanted her to bark something nasty. '_Do you think I would bloody get on my knees for anyone else_?' flashed in her head like an LED readout.

"OK Myka," Helena said solemnly and walked back up the aisle.

If Myka thought Helena had cast a spell on her, she gave little thought to how she was affecting her suitor. Myka always assumed that while she might impress people with her knowledge of the law and literature, she never made a lasting impression on their hearts. Except for maybe Sam.

Myka leaned – no fell – back against the wall. She felt like she wanted to throw up, her chest pounded, her head hurt, her legs felt like they were going to give out on her any minute. So many feelings at once and they overwhelmed her.

_Why couldn't Sam make her feel like this_?

Myka watched as the woman who had turned her world upside down in the last few days, walked up to the counter, took her sunglasses, and put them on. Myka heard the door close, but couldn't see because the tears overpowered her resistance and made their escape. Myka held the book, slid down the wall, and cried uncontrollable sobs of agony, her chest involuntarily moving in and out.

Helena stood outside for a moment, unsure of what to do next. The magnificent writer was at a loss for words. The genius inventor could not figure out how to fix this situation. She had felt this intense sense of defeat only once before – when she learned that even when she traveled back in time successfully, she could not change the course of events. That realization is what led to her fall into madness, and Helena started to shake with fear that it could happen again.

Helena's demons rose inside her – _we told you playing fair didn't get you what you wanted_ – they taunted her_. But it did get Myka what she wanted_ \- her broken heart replied and quieted them.

Pete and Claudia jumped from their seats and rushed to the street where Helena passed them by and walked down the long block to the car without a word.

Claudia wanted to go with Pete, but she felt responsible for making things worse so she walked away from them and went to the bookstore. She expected to see Myka in a state of fury, and she thought she might just throw her out. She didn't expect to see Myka's eyes swollen and red. She rushed in and saw the spy-book on the floor and picked it up.

"I did this, Ms. Bering, not Helena. She had no idea, I swear to you. I thought I was helping," Claudia said all in one breath.

"Thank you, Claudia," was all Myka could get out.

"I know you may not have gotten a chance to see this, Ms. Bering, but she's a really good person. She yells a lot, but underneath it all, she's one of the good guys," Claudia said without explaining how she knew that for a fact. Even if there were other twenty-three year olds who headed up IT Departments, none were rescued from the brink of being homeless like she was.

Claudia started to leave, but stopped at the door. "Ms. Bering? I can't tell you how I know this, but Sam is on his way here," she said as she opened it. She didn't want to be the bearer of bad news, especially given how shook up Myka looked, but she thought she should know Sam was coming.

"Claudia?" Myka said before the door closed. The Teckie was sure Myka would press her on how she knew.

"Yeah?" Claudia said ready to refuse any explanation.

"Tell Helena …..," but Myka stopped. "Make sure….," but Myka was sure Helena would be okay. "Thanks for letting me know," she finally said through a half crest smile.

Claudia nodded her head and closed the door behind her. She rushed to the car expecting to be grilled by her boss, but Helena sat in the back motionless, staring out the window.

"_The Eagle has been wounded by an arrow and I don't mean Cupid's_," Pete texted to Artie. That was exactly how the former marine thought his boss looked as he stared in the rear view mirror; _wounded._

"It didn't go well," Artie said to Irene who let out a deep sigh. She really had hoped it would. For all their sakes, she really had hoped it would.

"When are they coming back?" Irene asked and Artie texted Pete the question and waited.

"Two o'clock flight out of Colorado Springs," Artie relayed.

"She'll come right here I bet. Tell everyone to man their battle stations, Arthur. There's only so much salve I can put on a gaping wound," Irene said as the first line of defense.

"I really need to have my blood pressure checked," Artie mumbled as he directed the staff to prepare for _the Homecoming Queen of Terror_.

* * *

The person who jumped the highest was Eileen. Not out of fear, but out of a deep sense of remorse. A romantic at heart, Eileen thought the happy ending was more than guaranteed especially given that it was her boss who was doing the pursuing. She had never seen Helena come back empty handed. She had even stopped the office pool that many wanted to start. Eileen had enough of what her grandmother would call – 'shenanigans'.

Irene called the newest member of the Wells Staff. She asked Leena how the restoration at the house was coming along and she was happy to hear that the doors had all been repaired and the smoke damage taken care off. She reminded Leena not to take anything that Ms. Wells might say personally, because even though her services were desperately needed, they were not quite wanted yet. Leena assured Irene that she was more than able to handle difficult situations, and that she never judged people simply by their behavior, but by something she liked to call their '_auras_'.

That didn't help Irene feel any better.

* * *

Helena moved slowly through security and took a seat near the large window at the airport and stared out at the open space.

Pete kept turning around – waiting to see Myka running through the terminal screaming Helena's name. As the time got closer to boarding, he fingered his phone wanting to text Myka.

"Why don't I just text her, you know, to see if she needs us to stall Helena?" Pete asked Claudia.

"She had over an hour to do that Pete," Claudia said softly.

"Maybe she didn't know Helena was leaving, or maybe there's a new JK Rowling book out and she's stuck at the bookstore or I don't know," Pete said almost frantically.

"Pete!" Claudia said to get him to calm down and take his seat. Claudia looked around to make sure no one could hear her. "Pete, Sam is on his way there."

"WHAT?" Pete yelled and caught everyone's attention except his boss. Claudia punched him in the arm. "You know this? Of course you do, you probably had his dentist implant a tracking device in his last filling. Are you sure you don't work for the CIA?" Pete asked.

"Very funny," Claudia said and immediately began wondering how that filling idea would work.

"Now what do we do?" Pete said. "Suppose we tell Helena and she goes back there and is all like '_get away from my …..Chief Counsel or whatever_' …..and then Myka is all like, _oh Helena that was great cause he's a huge douche_…whatever... ok but, I had dinner with the guy and he's not good enough for her," Pete summarized his fantasy and facts.

He was flexing his muscles after that total display of his romantic side and Claudia thought how adorable he was.

"How are you not taken, Lattimer?" she asked him.

"Hey, I could be. I could have had Kelly Davenport if she had just been able to show me her high school diploma," he teased. It broke the tension and the two friends laughed at his joke. Then he looked over at Helena and in spike of the fact that she had her back to them, it was easy to see how sad she was.

"I thought for sure my advice would help," Pete said looking at Helena.

"You? I thought the book would be perfect, too," Claudia said.

"How did you even think of that?" Pete asked her.

"Helena told me about it. I don't know how she knew, but she had me check the inventory and sure enough, there it was," Claudia explained.

"What do we do?" he asked.

"The first thing I'm doing," Claudia said tapping her keys on the laptop, "Is sending Myka flowers."

"No Claud, I think we have helped enough," Pete said feeling bad that his advice might have worsened the situation.

He was right and his younger friend knew it. "Fine, then the least I can do," she said resuming her tapping, "…..is to switch Sam's ticket to a four hour layover in Ohio. What? I know how to access a few programs, so what?" she asked without looking up. Pete put his hand on hers and stopped her. "OK," she said. Maybe knowledge wasn't always power.

Pete went to the men's room and told Claudia to keep an eye on their boss. A beautiful woman dressed in a gorgeous ensemble sitting alone in an airport was an easy mark for a guy out to make an impression.

"Are you who I think you are?" the businessman asked as he sat down near Helena.

"You have no idea who I am," Helena said truthfully and without turning her head.

"No, you're Helena Wells, I know who you are," he said thinking this was his chance.

"What is your name?" Helena asked.

"Mike Anderson," the Wall Street trader said and smiled broadly when Helena leaned over to whisper.

"Mr. Anderson, it is not _who _I am that should concern you, but rather, _what_ I am," Helena said her voice filled with warning.

Her tolerance for the human race had just taken a huge dip downward.

"What you are… is…. hooooot," he said drawing out the word ….. and drawing in his last conscious breath.

As soon as Claudia saw him slump over in his seat, she signaled for Pete to hurry up.

"You didn't kill him, did you?" Pete asked his boss when he saw the man.

"Not at all, Mr. Lattimer. I merely helped him take a break from being a total nuisance to the whole of society," Helena explained.

She was tired of things getting in her way.

* * *

Myka left the 'Closed' sign on the door and went upstairs with her book. The book that she had fantasized owning one day was now hers. She went to her wallet and took out the money she had withdrawn and put it in an envelope. Her parents would at least think they got paid for the forgery. Myka put the book in the suitcase she brought and went online to pick her next destination. Coming here had been a mistake. Not only was there no peace, it seemed everyone found her too easily. That would not happen again. She booked her flight and hotel and went back downstairs. Her parents never closed the store unless it was a national holiday. So Myka went to the door and flipped over the sign to indicate they were opened. It didn't seem to her that anyone noticed they hadn't been.

Myka shook off the pain as best she could so that she could help her parents one more day. By tonight, she'd be 2279 miles away.

Jeanne and Warren returned in the late afternoon bubbling over with excitement about the show.

"Who got you those tickets?" Myka asked suspicious of everything now.

"Oh I think it was that woman who visited the store a long time ago. We bought a bunch of her books – the first edition ones I think, isn't that right Warren?" Jeanne asked.

"Wow, she paid in cash? Did you see how she was dressed? What a looker," her father said of the buyer.

"Warren, what was the name of the woman we bought all those first edition books from. The HG Wells ones and Oscar Wilde, too I think. She was passing through on her way to New York she said and practically sold them for a dime," Jeanne said and went to hunt for the receipt. Warren and Jeanne have every receipt from every business transaction in a box under the counter.

"Mom, why would she send you tickets to a show?" Myka asked as her mother hunted for the paper.

"What? Oh she said that she wanted to repay us for being so kind. I don't know - we were nice I'm sure, but I don't think we were especially kind, do you Warren?" Jeanne asked.

"What will we do with all this money? Woohoo," Warren was saying.

It irked Myka to see her father make such a big deal over an envelope of money that he would have trouble believing was only a portion of what she had earned.

"How about you finally change the damn sign, Dad?" Myka said, her hands on her hips staring at him. It stopped both her parents in their tracks.

"Well isn't that the strangest thing," her mother finally said, breaking the tension that filled the room.

"What?" Myka said out of patience.

Jeanne lifted up the piece of paper that she had dug out from the box.

"The woman who sold us the books a few years ago has the same name as the person who bought the book today; Emily Lake."

"What?" Myka asked.

She knew that was the alias Helena had used to gain access to the store. _Was there really an Emily Lake or did Helena visit her parents' store years before?_ Myka grabbed the receipt out of her mother's hand. There on the bottom of the page was the very familiar elegant script handwriting.

Myka looked at the list of books. She ran to the section in the back of the bookstore and pulled the first edition of _The Picture of Dorian Gray _by Oscar Wilde off the shelf. She remembered seeing something in that book. She opened to the first page and read -

"_To Helena Wells, you are my muse, my inspiration. Don't ever give up trying to seduce me, Oscar"_

"She comes from a long line of seductresses, I see," Myka said to herself.

"Oh my word, Myka! Here comes Sam," her father said excitedly as the federal agent crossed the street making his way to the store.


	27. Short But Sweet

Helena sat in her seat in first class, waiting for the others to board. Oblivious to the murmurs from the other passengers who recognized her, Helena stared out the window. Part of her wanted to get off that plane, get back to the bookstore, and make Myka listen. She would tell her that she has tried everything she could think of, and now it would be up to Myka to tell her what to do. And she would do it – because Helena had never experienced an ache like this in her life.

"You do remember she said this would be on us if it didn't work out right?" Pete whispered to Claudia.

"Yeah, that was before she got the emotional crap beaten out of her," Claudia said looking over at her boss.

Pete conspicuously got up and walked over to the steward and asked him the question that was on his mind the whole time in the airport.

"Listen, let me ask you something. You know how in the movies, the couple fights, and then say they're leaving each other and one of them gets on a plane and the other one is like in a store. And then the one in the store finally comes to her freaking senses and rushes to the airport, but now since 9/11 you can't just barge through security right? So she has to figure out a way to get to the person she finally has figured out has been trying really hard all along. So she like finds a way to get on the tarmac, but the plane door is closing so she runs alongside the plane? You know what I mean?" Pete said making a running motion to the wide eyed man. "Yeah? OK. So does the pilot stop the plane?"

And that is how Pete delayed Helena's aircraft for over an hour while Claudia convinced the crew he was talking about his girlfriend who he just broken up with and that is why he was acting crazy.

* * *

Myka wasn't entirely surprised to see Sam at the front of the store, kissing and hugging her mother and shaking her father's hand. She wasn't even surprised to see Sam wink at her father as if no one would ever suspect he called Sam to tell him to come and talk sense into his daughter. It had been over 24 hours since Myka's melt down and Sam was certain she would have thought things through by now. After all, Myka was very bright.

Her parents' expressions were a mixture of feigned surprise and '_look what we did to help'_. They meant well, God love them. Myka had a lifetime of their good intentions, but they never really seemed to be good for her. Standing there in khakis and a blue polo shirt, Myka thought how dull he seemed. She remembered thinking in spite of her anger, how Helena seemed to make the entire store brighter – as if she was casting a floodlight on things. Remembering that made the discomfort come back and Myka knew she had to end this charade.

"Sam," Myka said as she grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the store. She didn't speak her second word to him until they were in the booth in the diner across the street and had ordered coffee. Sam ordered pie because he erroneously thought this would be a long conversation.

"You look great, Myka. Being out here agrees with you," Sam said fixing his coffee.

"Sam, I'm sorry they called you," Myka said.

"No, I wanted to see you. They're worried, Bunny, that's all," Sam said taking her hand across the table.

"They shouldn't be, I'm fine," Myka said and Sam's expressions said '_brave Myka'_.

"Look, let's go on vacation next week, just the two of us and put New York and all of this behind us," Sam suggested. He didn't care if his boss was regretting now that he told him he better take his days.

"Sam, I have been thinking about things...," Myka started and was interrupted when Sam repeated 'thinking's good, thinking's good.' Myka smiled her patience at him.

"I want to break up, Sam," Myka said and he stopped sipping his coffee. _This was worse than Warren and Jeanne thought it was. _

"Don't be ridiculous, Bunny. You've had a temporary setback. No one could work for that bitch," Sam said putting his cup down and taking her other hand now in his.

It was as if Sam's derogatory words shot like venom into her veins. Myka straightened up her back and pulled his hands into her so fast; his chest hit the tabletop between them.

"Listen to me, Sam. This is the last time I'm going to say this to you. I am breaking up with you. I love you, but it's not enough. I have had a taste of what enough is….. and Sam, you're not it," Myka said and let go of his hands.

Sam fell back into the booth and stared at the woman he no longer knew.

"I don't know what got into you," he said.

"_Hot, sweet, electrifying passion, you idiot_," Myka thought, but didn't say. Instead she smiled at him, collected herself, and said; "I don't know either, but I like it. Goodbye Sam."

Myka got up out of the booth a renewed woman. It was the first time in her life she felt like she knew what she wanted and acted on it –even if it hurt someone's feelings.

"I won't come crawling back again, Myka," Sam shouted to her and the patrons of the small diner.

"I'm kinda counting on that, Sam," Myka said as she walked across the street and broke the news to her parents.

"But Myka," they both tried, but Myka wouldn't let them finish. She kissed them both and thanked them for their concern. She told them she had everything under control and that she was going to go on a little vacation tomorrow. Then she smiled bravely and went back to helping them with the store, even though there wasn't that much to do.

* * *

After talking to Pete and seeing that he was not a threat, the crew allowed him to return to his seat and they prepared for takeoff again. Helena was the only one oblivious to it all.

She was deep in thought and reminiscing. Over and over in her head, she repeated a line that she wrote in _The War of the Worlds_;

"_I went to a box room at the top of the house and locked myself in, in order to be alone with my aching miseries."_

That was what Helena planned on doing when she got home. She would seclude herself in her townhouse with her aching thoughts of Myka.

Pete, the hopeless optimist looked out his window until he was certain Myka couldn't jump that high to the door. Maybe she wasn't as bright as he thought she was.

* * *

When the plane landed hours later, Helena told Pete she wanted to go directly to her townhouse. Irene already knew that and so she told Pete to tell Helena it was urgent that she come to work. The woman was concerned that Helena would lock herself away somewhere in the house and she wouldn't get to talk to her. And whether Helena wanted to or not, she had to talk to someone.

Pete heard the British anthem of '_oh bloody hell'_ when he told Helena that Mrs. Frederic wanted to see her, but she didn't protest when he drove the car in the direction of midtown instead of uptown.

"You might want to go home early," Mrs. Frederic said to Eileen to protect her, but the young assistant refused.

"She might want tea," Eileen said, ready to serve if needed.

Helena smiled at the young woman and went directly into her office and closed the door. Irene gave her a couple of minutes before she knocked softly and went in.

"Helena?" she said walking towards her boss, who had her back to her staring out the window. The familiar scene of people coming and going seemed to annoy her now – as if it was a taunt that life was carrying on while she was in pain. She took a deep breath and turned around.

Irene could not remember a time the Brit looked so sad. It pained her to see Helena appear emotional like the rest of them, as if she wasn't mortal somehow.

"Are you okay?" Irene asked standing on the other side of the desk.

"It would seem I have finally experienced failure, Irene. It has been a long time since I have had that taste in my mouth," Helena said quietly.

"I'm sorry it didn't turn out better, Helena," Irene said.

She wanted to sit down, but Helena remained standing. She wanted to go to her friend and hug her, but Helena's stiff back told her she was not ready for that.

"Yes, well I appreciate that," Helena said. "Is there something you needed me for?" she asked getting back to business.

"I just wanted to see if you were okay," Irene confessed. Helena forced a smile on her face to thank her confidant.

"I will be," Helena assured her, but didn't believe it.

"Can I get you some tea?" Irene offered.

"Yes, thank you," Helena said turning back to look out the window. She wanted to go home really, but found it impossible to move.

Irene went outside and asked Eileen to prepare the tea.

* * *

"How is she?" the executive assistant asked.

"Not good," Irene answered truthfully.

"But she was supposed to get Ms. Bering to come back!" Eileen practically cried as she poured the boiling water she knew would be needed into the pot.

"Yes, well I guess Ms. Bering didn't see it that way," Irene said perplexed herself by the end result. "I guess Ms. Wells can't charm everyone," Irene said.

"That's not true!" Eileen yelled and surprised the older woman. Irene understood they were all upset by what happened.

"What the hell is wrong with her? She's Helena G. Wells for God's sake. She makes deals, she breaks people, she gets what she wants," Eileen ranted as she prepared the tray with the tea. "And you're just going to let her give up?" Eileen said turning to face the one person she thought could save this.

"Dear, Helena tried … we _all_ tried," Irene said.

"The hell you all did! Trying isn't good enough! Now _someone_ has to get through that thick English skull of her," Eileen said marching off with the cup of hot tea.

Mrs. Frederic put her hand out to gently stop the young woman, but thought maybe …_just_ maybe…it was worth a try. Eileen was, after all, fully covered under the health plan.

Mrs. Frederic watched as the experienced woman put the tray down, opened the door, picked up the tray, and entered.

"Ms. Wells, we need to talk," Eileen said as she slammed the door shut with her foot.


	28. Taking Matters Into Her Own Hands

"Are you insane?" Pete asked his HR Director when she told him Eileen had just walked into Helena's office.

"Mr. Lattimer, have faith in the girl," Irene implored.

"Who's her next of kin?" Claudia asked in her droll voice.

"Mrs. F – have your seen _Jurassic Park_ – the scene where they are lowering the goat into the pen with the T Rex? Does that image _not_ come to mind here?" Pete asked amazed at Mrs. Frederic's calmness.

"Pete, you gave her advice and it didn't work. Ms. Donovan hacked, reprogrammed and invaded firewalls and it didn't help," Irene said.

"Hey, the book helped. Well, I mean, we _found_ the book," Claudia said defensively.

"And even I told her to be humble and none of it worked, so what do we have to lose?" the older woman asked.

"A really good executive assistant?" Pete replied.

"Where is the first aid kit?" Claudia asked.

"Can you get in there?" Pete asked waving his finger at Claudia's phone.

"Oh so _now_ you want me to invade someone's privacy," the Teckie said smartly.

"No one is going to hack or invade anywhere. We will sit here and wait," Irene instructed, as Pete paced the waiting room like an expectant father.

* * *

Fortunately for Eileen, Helena wasn't paying the rest of humanity any attention today and so she didn't comment on Eileen's directive. Eileen took that action on impulse and now that she was facing the tall dark-haired woman, dressed in the colors that portrayed her gloomy mood, she started to second guess herself. _No! She had to help the woman she greatly admired …and greatly feared. _

"I have your tea," Eileen said to Helena who didn't turn around when she thanked her and told her to put it on the desk. Suddenly the walk from the door to Helena's desk seemed like a city block in length. At one point the only sound Eileen heard was the rattling of the tea cup on the tray from her hands shaking.

Helena ran her hand through her hair and it cascaded down her shoulders. She stood there with one hand on her hip, leaning against the window. Even depressed, her boss was stunning. Eileen set the tray down and now there was no noise at all. Then the brave intruder remembered she didn't really have a speech prepared.

"Ah…..," Eileen started and suddenly felt like the air was being sucked out of the room. Helena didn't move. _What would help? What would help_? The question kept being repeated in her head. She took a deep breath and blurted out....

"When I was in junior high school, I loved _Tommy Boy Lopez_. His mother was Irish and his father was Puerto Rican," Eileen said as if Helena questioned his name. "He had the most beautiful blue eyes. And he was a nice boy. Not great in grades, you know? But a nice kid. I drew hearts with our names in my notebook about a billion times, " Eileen smiled reminiscing and then caught the steely dark stare from her boss who had turned around.

There wasn't _one_ thing about Helena's expression that said '_please tell me more'_, but Eileen had a point to make, so she looked down at the desk.

"So Mary Ellen Flanagan liked him, too and so, she and I were kind of in a competition, you know? But I thought he liked me more so while Mary Ellen sent him funny YouTube videos and jokes on Instagram, I coasted," Eileen revealed.

"Is there a point to this story you insist on sharing with me, Miss Sullivan?" Helena asked unable to placate the tale that had no end.

"Yes, there is," Eileen said swallowing hard. "Mary Ellen fought for him and I didn't. Today, she is Mrs. Tommy Boy Lopez and her kids are gorgeous."

"You want me to go get Mr. Tommy Boy Lopez for you?" Helena asked confused by the point.

"No! I want you to fight hard for Ms. Bering," Eileen said emphatically.

Now Helena's expression changed from mild annoyance to anger.

"Darling, I appreciate that you worked up the nerve to come into my office and share that story and make your suggestion. Now that this exchange has concluded, and it has, I would appreciate it in the future if you refrained from making comments about my personal life," Helena said sharply.

_Why couldn't people just leave her aloneto lick her wounds?_

"Do you know what I like most about you?" Eileen said ignoring her boss' last comment. She was so nervous that her hearing was going.

"That I haven't killed an employee….. yet?" Helena said.

"You get what you want. You inspire us to go after the things that seem impossible. People are afraid of you, don't get me wrong...," Eileen said, sharing too much, "but we admire you, too. You don't stop until you get what you want."

Helena drew a deep breath because she could tell how sincere....and courageous... her young assistant was. "My dear, sometimes no matter how hard you try to get something, you come up empty handed," Helena said and the sadness in her voice was palpable.

Eileen knew failure when she smelled it, and right now the room was rancid with it. She had one shot left.

"Even the great HG Wells understood romance," Eileen shouted and caught Helena's attention. "Sure he wrote about the destruction of the world or civilization, but in between those lines of our annihilation are stories about heroes. About people who rose above the odds and went after what they wanted," Eileen said and lost her breath.

She took one longer gasp.

"Fight harder, damn it! You're Helena G. Wells for God's sake. If you want her, go after her!" Eileen said pounding her fist on the desk.

Helena sat back in her chair, surprised by the brazen move of the timid woman. She looked at the pleading expression in her eyes as they fixated on her and didn't move. Helena wanted to rise to the occasion, as her young motivator suggested, but she already knew what the obstacles were. She looked up and smiled. "Thank you Eileen, but unfortunately ….that is _not_ what Ms. Bering wants, and I have given my word," Helena said – sharing more than she ever expected to.

Eileen watched as the defeat washed over Helena again and pain etched her face.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Wells. Really I am," Eileen said voicing what she thought was a huge defeat for what was left of romance in the 21st century.

"Thank you," Helena said turning her back on the woman who had never acted braver in her life.

* * *

Eileen walked out feeling she had failed in her mission. "I didn't help at all," she said to Mrs. Frederic and dissolved into tears in the older woman's arm.

"There, there, Eileen. I'm sure Helena appreciates knowing how concerned you are for her," Irene assured the youth.

"And she let you live," Pete pointed out and Claudia agreed.

* * *

Myka had a quiet dinner with her parents where she patiently explained again that she and Sam had broken up, and that she disagreed with them that he was her _one_ chance at happiness. Her response that in fact, _she_ was her own chance at happiness simply bewildered the couple. Jeanne couldn't seem to let go of it and while doing the dishes she tried one more time.

"Myka, don't you want to be happy?" her mother asked.

"Of course I do," Myka answered.

"Then go with Sam on this vacation, talk things through," Jeanne said washing the dishes that were going to go into the dishwasher because plates could never be too clean.

"Mom, I don't know how to get through to you. I don't want Sam," Myka tried for the umpteenth time.

"Oh Myka, you don't know what you want," Jeanne insisted.

Myka had enough.

"Mom, surprise! I _do_ know. I want someone who makes every part of me feel alive and beautiful. I want someone who when they look at me, across a crowded room even, my heart starts to beat faster. I want someone who when they speak with that freaking adorable accent, my core melts. And when they touch me, sparks erupt in parts of me I never even knew. And Mom, I want the person - who when they whisper my name in my ear, I would follow them body and soul to the ends of the earth," Myka sail with great feeling.

Her mother tried to get what she was saying.

"He doesn't exist, sweetie," Jeanne said thinking Myka was describing romantic movies, not real life.

After a long time, Myka said - "You're right, Mom, _he_ doesn't," and Jeanne was glad she was coming to her senses. Myka suddenly dropped the plate back in the sink.

"…but _she_ does." Myka stood there stunned at her own admission.

* * *

Pete took Helena home to the townhouse after Mrs. Frederic put Eileen in a cab back to Brooklyn. Irene had forgotten in all the drama to mention that Helena had a new employee. What she did remember was to tell Pete he was not to leave Helena alone that night.

Helena hardly raised an eyebrow when she saw Leena standing there.

"Hello, Ms. Wells, my name is Leena….," the new employee started, but never got to say her last name.

"How do you do?" Helena said and walked past her.

"Rough day," Pete said introducing himself.

They watched as Helena went up to her library and closed the door. Within moments, they could hear yelling coming from the room. Pete took the steps two at a time to listen.

"What the bloody hell do you mean you cannot rebronze me?" he heard Helena yelling.

"You would think she'd be _platinum_," Pete said out loud and softly, thinking his boss was talking about her club membership somewhere.

"You listen to me you overpaid, under-worked warehouse babysitter, don't think for a moment I don't know your boss, Mr. Kosan has something that belongs to me," Helena yelled as she slammed down the phone.

"OK, back to normal on the business front," Pete said as he sat down in a straight back chair that lined the walls.

"Should I prepare Ms. Wells some dinner?" Leena asked Pete unsure of the routine yet.

"Nah, we'll just open the door and throw some raw meat in and see how that goes," he said smiling uncertain of the mood in the room behind him.

The mood was not good.

* * *

Helena sat in a room filled with reminders of what could have been in her life. Pictures of Christina adorned the desk and piano. Her original notebooks, many of which were the basis for the books that Charles got the credit for, lined her shelves. She finally awoke in an age where people could believe HG Wells was a woman, but it still could not be her. Things like this taunted Helena for months after she was released from South Dakota, until she founded Wells Corp and put her energy into research and philanthropy. Helena's self-confidence, brilliance, and lack of emotion brought her great success in the business arena. Now wallowing in the only defeat that mattered to her, Helena believed she needed to escape. The Time Machine failed her, the Government refused to put her back in holding, and she knew she could not stand this pain much longer.

"I need something that will offer a lady time to think," Helena said to herself begging the idea to come to her.

If they wouldn't do the job for her, she would have to do it herself. It's not like she didn't know the back way into the facility that previously housed her Time Machine. Helena planned her journey quickly. She would leave Mrs. Frederic a note saying that she needed a vacation. Then she would leave very early in the morning, before Pete or her new housekeeper could interfere. She would drive to South Dakota and do the job herself. She set out to working on a device that would ensure the stupid agents in charge could not undo her work for a set period of time. Helena fiddled with the clock that would guarantee her slumber could not be disturbed.

She knew an eternity was not long enough to ever forget Myka Bering, but hoped the time set on the clock was long enough to help her forget her defeat and the emotions that raged within her.

* * *

Eileen simply could not accept Helena's defeat that night as she picked at her food her mother prepared. She didn't really believe she could march in there and make her boss do something, but she just felt so compelled.

"Why does life suck so much?" Eileen inquired and her mother asked her not to use that language.

"What do you mean?" her mother asked trying to slip another piece of steak onto her plate. _The girl was too skinny._

"Why when two people are meant to be together, aren't they together?" she asked playing with the mashed potatoes.

"You're not talking about Tommy Boy, are you?" her mother worried.

"No, mom. I'm talking about my boss. She's meant to be with someone – I mean we all see it and I just know it in my heart and yet, they're not together," Eileen said playing with the peas now.

"How do you know they're supposed to be together?" her mother asked pouring more milk in her glass.

"Cause you can tell they drive each other crazy. And you can tell it's just a cover up because they can't admit it," Eileen said with the wisdom of a sage. 

"Your Aunt Rose was like that with your Uncle Danny before they married," her mother said pushing the plate back when Eileen had pushed away a little.

"Really? They're like the most romantic couple I know," she said of the middle aged twosome who held hands throughout Mass every Sunday. "He adores Aunt Rose."

"Yeah well they almost didn't make it down the aisle. We could all tell she was crazy about him, but she's thick Irish, too much pride. And him – he broke up with a girl and didn't know what he wanted," her mother shared.

"So what happened?" Eileen said interested in her untold family history.

"We kept putting them together. Your father would bring Danny to a dance, and I'd bring Rose. Or we'd go to Coney Island and have them meet us there," her mother and laughed out loud.

"What happened?" Eileen asked wondering if she should write this down.

"We kept putting them together until they just stopped denying the fact that they were in love," her mother said.

"That's it!" Eileen said jumping up from the table and kissing her mother's forehead.

"You didn't touch the peas," her mother yelled as she made her way up to her bedroom.

Eileen got out her work phone and dialed a number. She might be going from the frying pan into the fire, but she thought it just might be worth it. She knew romance wasn't dead.

"Hello, Ms. Bering? This is Eileen Sullivan from Wells Corp," Eileen said into the phone. "We need to talk." 


	29. Everybody Hurts Sometimes

Helena came out of her library convincing Pete that she was okay, just tired from her cross country trek. She said goodnight to him and her new staff member. Leena may have been new on the job, but she wasn't new to understanding what someone's aura told her about them.

"She's planning on leaving," Leena said to Pete when they were in the kitchen.

"Leaving? She just got back. No, she'll throw herself back into work and heads will roll. Just like the good old days," Pete said chewing on freshly baked cookies. Helena might need a bodyguard 24/7, he thought.

"No Pete, I think she's trying to leave for an extended period of time," Leena said without be able to explain why.

"OK, so you got a vibe thing, too?" Pete said.

"Something like that," Leena answered.

"OK, so I'll keep an eye on things down here tonight and you keep an ear out upstairs," Pete said shoving another cookie in his mouth. "Deez are good."

* * *

Helena listened to the rain beat against the windows. _Fitting weather_, she thought -dark and gloomy. She was leaving – not because she didn't want to fight for Myka. Helena never backed down from a fight. Myka didn't want her – and that was all there was to it.

And she gave Myka her word she would leave her alone.

Helena worked at her computer compiling notes for the Board Members and Directors on how to proceed in her absence. She felt confident that some of the right people were in place to keep things running, and promoted others she knew the company needed in order to survive. She didn't care if the business was there - if and when she returned, but worried about the people whose livelihood was Wells Corp. Of course, the irony that she was in need of a lawyer to witness her signature was not lost on Helena.

"Just when I need a bloody Chief Counsel, I can't find one," Helena said… and then cried.

There was only one lawyer she needed - and wanted. Years of building walls and feeling safe only behind them came crashing down on Helena. Not since Christina's death, did emotions find their way so quickly to Helena's heart. She had sealed it off in order to go on. When she was bronzed or rather, asked to be bronzed - by the agency that she had worked for, it seemed only fitting punishment - not only for her mistakes there, but for all of them. When she was released in order to help them, she thought they would put her back.

Instead, they sent her out into the world; a world she knew nothing about, a world she knew no one in. They gave her an alias and a car and sent her on her way.

* * *

Helena sat in a diner one day, drawing and making notes. She was going to New York to start her own company. She had already hired a core group of people who would help her get it started and they were waiting for her in New York. Helena needed to soak up some of the changes she missed before she went there, and so she traveled by car from South Dakota to her final destination. A misguided left hand turn instead of a right brought her south instead of east and she wound up in a little town in Colorado Springs.

"I don't think they're doing that well, Sam, but they won't let me do anything," the woman in the booth behind her was saying to her boyfriend. "I can't even get them to agree to change the windows – look at them," Myka said and Helena snuck a glance at the bookstore across the street. It seemed stuck in time to the Time Traveler.

"Bunny, just tell them they have to move on and get with it, you know, come into the digital age. Books are out," the man said as he ate his food.

Helena shuddered at how crass he sounded and bit her lip not to turn around and correct him - physically.

"Sam! We will always want books. They're so romantic," the curly haired woman said back and Helena thought she was too bright for the buffoon who sat across from her.

"Listen, you gave up full scholarships to law school so you could stay here and help them out. It's time for you to do something for yourself. You need to stop spending every vacation with them and come back to Washington with me now," Sam said.

Helena thought it odd that this man sounded like he was stuck in a different time period too.

"Oh Sam, I'll be back. I just need to help them come up with something first," Myka said.

Helena smiled at how pleasant this woman's voice was. What was she doing with this man who was obviously less intelligent and not as well-bred as she?

"Come on, I have to go back to DC tonight and I have to buy a shirt. Come with me," Sam said and Myka agreed.

Helena turned to watch as the couple walked hand in hand down the street and into his car.

"Can I get you anything else?' the waitress asked.

"Yes, can you tell me who that woman was that just left?" Helena asked.

"You mean Myka Bering? She's the daughter of the people who own the bookstore over there. Big shot lawyer now, but works for nonprofits for no money," the woman answered.

Helena thanked her and asked her if she would do her a favor. Helena produced a business card and asked the woman to instruct Myka to send her resume to the name on the card. The woman said she would. Then she went to her car, took out a box of books, and walked to the bookstore.

"They seem very rare," Warren said to the woman who didn't remove her sunglasses.

"Indeed," Helena said.

"Where did you get them?" Jeanne asked.

"They were in...storage," Helena answered truthfully.

"Where are you from? I'm usually pretty good at placing people," Jeanne said.

"South Dakota," Helena said in her faux American accent.

"I knew it!" the store owner said.

"My daughter Myka will go through the roof with excitement when she sees this _The War of the Worlds_ signed by HG Wells," Warren said.

"Will she?" Helena asked.

"Oh yes, I used to read it to her when she was younger. Other girls like princess stories, but not Myka. She had so many questions that I used to wish good old HG was here to answer them for me," Warren laughed.

"Perhaps one day," Helena said to the buyer.

"That's funny. Well, here's the whole amount we agreed on, Miss Lake," Warren said.

Helena took the money and thanked them and said goodbye.

Perhaps one day HG Wells would have the pleasure of making their daughter's acquaintance, but for now she was on her way to New York.

Helena arrived in New York a week later and started building her business empire. She never mentioned the name to her new HR Director who had seen to hiring all the staff she needed – including lawyers. Helena would leave some things to chance.

"What woman?" Myka asked the waitress.

"The woman behind you when you were in here before, in the dark glasses. American accent like from up North or something," she said giving the card to Myka.

"The one wearing the expensive perfume?" Myka asked.

"Yeah her," the waitress said leaving Myka standing there to look at the card. She packed it with her when she returned to Washington.

Two years later, Myka decided to send her resume into Irene Frederic at Wells Corp.

* * *

Helena sat there smiling at how life had played out that hand. The woman who caught her attention all those months before had finally applied to Wells Corp and had been hired. One would expect that Helena would have welcomed her with open arms and yet, that was not what happened.

When Helena finally got a good look at Myka, she could not explain her reaction. It startled the Brit that someone could have that effect on her. And when something startled Helena, she pounced on it. She approached Myka the way she did most deals she went after – she started to dismantle her. She was going to test Myka's mettle and she what she was made of. If Myka couldn't take it, she would not be worth the effort Helena thought. Myka not only pushed back, she changed the rules on Helena, and that was perhaps the biggest surprise to her.

Relationships that you care about cannot be handled like business deals Helena learned…..too late.

And when it was too late, Helena wondered how was it that this woman from a little town in Colorado Springs who grew up reading Helena's words and fantasizing about meeting the author, felt like the missing piece to her heart? Helena reflected back to how utterly foolish she had been at her one chance for happiness. The literary genius who couldn't handle the best thing that life had offered her in a long time.

She deserved to be back in the bronzer.

Helena collected the papers, wrote the last notes, and got up to pack a bag. She only needed enough things to keep her going for the two day trip to South Dakota. Thunder roared outside as Helena packed her bag and took in slowly downstairs.

She looked around at the townhouse that reminded her of home. She was sorry not to be able to say goodbye to Pete. He was by far, one of the nicest men she had ever known. Tears started to well up in her eyes, and she quietly chastised herself for being so emotional.

* * *

Helena made her way to the entry way in her house. She went to grab for the keys to car on the table when her hand felt something in the way.

There on the hallway table... was a copy of _The War of the Worlds – _first edition – autographed!

"You forgot your book," Myka said and Helena swung around to see the drenched soaked woman standing only a foot away from her.

"How did you?" Helena asked dropping the soft leather suitcase.

"You didn't lock your front door," Myka smiled apologetically. "I was going to wait until morning."

"No! No, I'm glad …you're here. I am really glad to see you, Myka," Helena said still taken aback. "I...," she started, but Myka put her finger up slowly. She had to get out what she wanted to say.

Myka moved in a little closer. "I thought I knew what I wanted when I came to New York, Helena. I was building my own life here and feeling like I finally knew who I was. Then I met you, and you made me doubt everything I thought I knew – who I was, what I wanted. It took being away from you before I finally figured out that I really _do_ know who I am …and what I want…. and it's to be with you," Myka said.

Helena stood stunned, her lips apart out of surprise. For Myka, it was the perfect invitation to sink into the person she feared she would never see again. She moved in slowly and gently put her lips on Helena's. Helena sighed into Myka's mouth as she devoured her lips with hers. Myka was amazed that she felt so familiar with a mouth that she had only kissed for a handful of seconds, and yet her tongue seemed to know exactly where to find the soft spots that made Helena whimper.

The smell of Chanel intoxicated Myka and she pushed her hands through that raven hair around Helena's head to pull her in. Helena was galvanized by Myka's touch and she reached up and pulled on Myka's coat lapels to make sure she didn't move. She placed soft bites on Myka's lower lip, igniting what Myka felt that morning she was a guest in this house.

Helena's thoughts came to a crawl as Myka deftly ran her hands up and down her arms and landing at her hands, intertwining her fingers with hers and held them tightly. Emotions swept the couple and they embraced, soothing the pain that neither thought would ever ease.

"Oh God, Helena," Myka said through choked back tears, "I thought I would never see you again. I was so foolish, I'm sorry ….," but Helena placed a finger on Myka's lip to stop her from beating herself up.

Helena pulled back her emotions long enough to say, "Myka, I will do whatever you need. Anything, but allow you to go, please."

Myka kissed her again, and Helena felt the cool sensation of Myka's tears touching her cheek. When their lips parted as gently as they had joined, Myka smiled and pushed the silky hair away from Helena's face as Helena reached up and wiped the tear away. Myka took off her coat and hung it in the hallway.

"We have to talk," Myka said and then looked down at the bag Helena had dropped. "Where were you going?" she asked, taking Helena by the hand and walking into the living room where they sat on the couch.

"Nowhere special," Helena said grateful for Myka's timing.

"How did you get here?" Helena asked.

"I was on my way to …leave… when I got a call from a very wise person who made me realize that I was running away from my chance for true happiness and that I would regret it the rest of my life if I didn't go after it," Myka said holding Helena's hand in hers.

Those words sounded _vaguely_ familiar to Helena.

"I may have also heard that lecture and I would have heeded those words, Myka if not for the promise I made you to give you time and space," Helena said, damning that promise.

"Helena, the only space I want…. is my office... if you'll have me back," Myka said.

"And time?" Helena asked looking into Myka's green eyes that reflected what little light there was in the room.

"Helena, it took me until now to realize what you mean to me. I want us to start over, Helena. I want us to be friends and to take the time to get to know each other better. I want to be with you, if you'll have me back," Myka said.

"I would like that very much," Helena said gently caressing Myka's face.

"You know, in spite of the fact that we met only a short time ago, a part of me feels like I have known you _all_ my life, Helena. How can that be, do you think?" Myka asked as she pressed her cheek into Helena's hand.

"Because I have been waiting for you all my life, Myka," Helena said and pulled Myka in to hold her.

* * *

There on the couch in a living room on Central Park West with the large bay window allowing the moonlight from the clearing skies to shine through…. began the romance that legends are made of.

"Oh my God, this is beautiful", Pete said from across the street watching the scene unfold alongside his new partner in crime, Eileen. She handed him another tissue from the little pack she always carried in her purse.

"How did you get Ms. Bering here again?" Pete asked impressed that the ingénue had succeeded where all of them had failed.

"I told her a story about a guy named Tommy Boy Lopez," Eileen said smiling at the soft image across the street of two friends talking for the first time.

* * *


	30. Questions, Questions and More Questions

There were many unanswered questions that Myka had, but she knew they could wait. What mattered was that she was where she _wanted_ and _needed_ to be.

She had tried to tell the young administrative assistant that she and Helena had talked and that this was '_all for the best'_. The young woman lost it – and told Myka a story about a young girl who didn't follow her heart because her head told her it would work out. "_Don't listen to you head, Ms. Bering, listen to your heart,_" Eileen implored her. Myka did, and changed her flight planes then and there.

Myka knew there was time now to ask Helena how the handwriting expert who authenticated the autographed copies of any books they sold, told her that the writing in the book and the letter were one and the same. He also said that he could confidently say that the ink sample in the book was over one hundred years old. What he could not explain was how the same person could have done this. Myka wondered if Helena had any idea.

* * *

Helena wanted to share so many things with Myka, but knew there would be time for that. She realized she might just need an attorney when she went back to South Dakota to claim what was rightfully hers. Mr. Kosan must have had the agents remove the crystal from her Time Machine hoping it would go unnoticed, and it did until Helena failed at her attempt to use it the night before. Now that she realized what was missing, she was going to go back and get it. She would first try going through the front door of the warehouse with her lawyer in tow - who would explain the nuances of the law to them. If that didn't' work, she might just have to go through the back door, but she knew that would take some explaining to Myka first.

Helena didn't necessarily want to do any time travel anytime soon, but she wanted what was hers.

* * *

"You know it's unusual for an employer to take back an employee who was fired," Myka teased Helena as her head rested in Helena's lap.

"You weren't fired, you quit," Helena pointed out. "But I will take you back."

"And why is that?" Myka asked as Helena pulled a blanket up over her so she could sleep.

"Because I am the kind of woman who does not settle for anything but the best," Helena said as Myka yawned and closed her eyes.

"Thank you, Helena," the Chief Counsel said falling asleep.

* * *

"So you don't think Ms. Wells will wonder how her bodyguard went to bed and didn't check the front door?" Leena asked Pete over early morning coffee after he drove Eileen back to Brooklyn.

"Nah, then she might have to explain why she was going out at that hour. She'll be fine. Do you have more cookies?" Pete asked.

* * *

Steve had spent the night at Claudia's because he had wanted to share some big news, but they never got to it. He fell asleep watching the Yankees as his friend busied herself at her computer all night. He made them breakfast of bagels and orange juice when he saw that she never made it to her bed. She assured him it wasn't her job, but even someone without a six sense could tell she was lying. He was about to share his announcement when he heard the news.

"_United Airlines 682 in route to Bermuda from Colorado Springs made an emergency landing at JFK Airport yesterday when the pilots reported that their instruments were throwing them off course. They landed safely and no one was hurt on board_," the news caster shared.

Steve turned to look at his young friend. "You didn't?" he asked wide eyed. He expected to hear loud pounding on the door any minute as federal agents descended on the hacker.

"What? No, no that was _not_ me," Claudia said her hands in front of her chest to signify her defense.

Steve stared at her – she was telling the truth. Claudia took a bite of bagel and went into the shower to get ready for work.

"_But you still have to get up pretty early Jinxy to pull something over on me_," she said in a low voice as she looked down at her computer that was logged into the new Personnel Files at Wells Corp that showed the recent hire of one Steven Jinx. "Now why would Helena hire her friend?" she wondered.

When Irene Frederic saw the news that morning, she too, texted her first suspect.

"Why does everyone think it's me?" Claudia asked. She assured the HR Director that she had nothing to do with the faulty equipment of the plane Myka was supposed to be on before she changed her flight.

"Well, then I guess fate was going to make sure our two friends met, one way or the other," Irene smiled.

Fate was no match for one determined young woman from Brooklyn who still believed there was true romance in the world.

* * *

Leena served Helena and her guest tea and scones early that next morning. Helena smiled and thanked her and then said to Myka; "She's got to work on the tea. Perhaps Eileen could show her or that tea barista they had in the Ritz Hotel in Colorado."

"Helena, I'm pretty sure they do not have one at the Four Seasons," Myka said smiling at her hostess.

"Really?" Helena asked sincerely and Myka assured her she knew that because she had stayed there on business.

"No tea barista?" Helena checked again.

"No, I'm certain I would remember that," Myka assured her.

"Oh I am _really_ looking forward to going into work this morning," Helena said smiling slyly.

* * *

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading the first installment of the Bering-Wells stories called "The Heir Series". There are eight more installments - presently posted at fan fiction dot net.   
All the outfits that Helena wears are also posted on my Pinterest page (ManhattaniteNYC), as well as pictures of what the 'cast' looks like - including some original characters that show up in the upcoming installments. 
> 
> Many thanks to those who read and posted! Always a pleasure to hear your feedback.   
Cheers.


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